Girls and Science Careers: Positive Attitudes Are Not Enough.

The question of why so few women enter scientific fields of study is important to American society. This paper examines two questions concerning the career aspirations of students: (1) What attitudes do students have about science and careers in science? and (2) How do variables such as classroom structure, grade level, gender, peer influence, parents, and role models affect these attitudes? A classroom structure method assessment was given to 40 classes, 10 from each of the following grades: 2, 5, 8, and 11. From these classes, two distinct types of classroom structures at each grade level (16 classrooms) were selected and these students were given a measure of Individual Versus Group Attitudes Towards Science (n=408) . Approximately 10 students from each group were interviewed and given open-ended sentence completion tests. Two types of classroom structures emerged: cooperative student-centered and competitive teacher-centered. Students who expressed interest in science careers in the interviews could name specific adult role models who sparked an interest in science for them. Student attitude towards science decreased with increasing grade. One of the most serious implications from the data is that so many students are relatively unclear about career options in science. Early career development may be especially critical for females, who frequently correlated taking future math and science courses only with a decision to pursue a career in science. (PR) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. *********************************************************************** Girls and Science Careers: Positive Attitudes are Not Enough Nancy Moffat Division of Curriculum and Instruction Michael Pibum Division of Curriculum and Instruction Larry P. Sidlik Division of Curriculum and Instruction Dale R. Baker Division of Curriculum and lnstrucEon Rick Trammel Division of Curriculum and Instruction College of Education Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85287 Presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Boston, MA, March 1992. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Nancy Mof fat TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." 2 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Off oce of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) IFThis document has been reproduced as rocoived from the porson or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have boon mad* to improve reproduction quality Points ot view or opinions slated on this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy Girls and Science Careers: Positive Attitudes are not Enough