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Teachers to Encourage Girls in Math, Science, and Technology

by Sally M. Reis and Carol Graham

“If female underachievement is best measured by the many talented womenin our society who look back at their lives with feelings of regret, it thenbecomes our responsibility to help future generations of gifted and talentedfemales before they, too, underachieve.”

—Sally Reis (2002, p. 132)

Teachers to Encourage Girls in Math, Science, and Technology

G“Girls they wanna have fu-un, oh, girls just wanna havefun . . .”

The words of Cyndi Lauper energize the atmosphere asFrisbees begin to fly and a group of fifth-grade girls fro mCrabapple Crossing El e m e n t a ry School file into the TAGre s o u rce room to face a fun-loving group of enthusiasticyoung scientists from Milton High School of Fu l t o nCounty Schools in Georgia. One fifth grader leaps intothe air to capture the first Frisbee, which displays the state-ment “Physics is fun!” Another girl repeats the message onthe next Frisbee to her friend, “Technology is fun!” Wi t ha confluence of energy and expectation, the mayhem andmadness yields a serious message: Young gifted womenf rom Milton High School believe that women of the 21stc e n t u ry must not be overlooked in fields in which womencontinue to be invisible, and their proposal for corre c t i n gthis problem is through a networking of gifted girls andm e n t o r s h i p. The networking began in this classroom andextended beyond tomorrow into the network of the Wo r l dWide We b.

The person who developed this program, Caro lGraham (grahamc@ fulton.k12.ga.us), who teaches acad-emically talented students in Milton High School,watched with delight as the academically talented seniorhigh school girls scanned faces to find the student eachhad pre p a red to mentor for the last several months. Thise xciting program was created during the last few ye a r s ,

when a group of administrators, teachers, and a technol-ogy teaching assistant worked together to develop a men-torship program involving 12 high school girls and theire l e m e n t a ry counterparts. The purpose of the pro g r a m ,which the girls named “Science and Te c h k n ow ChicksComing To g e t h e r,” was to encourage more academicallytalented girls to pursue math, science, and especially tech-n o l o g y.

The interests of the high school girls in this cause werepeaked during a seminar led by Mary Ellen Burrell,Carol Graham, and Jeri Groves in which the focus wason women in math, science, and technology. In the sem-inar, the girls and their teachers explored areas such asgender equity in textbooks, the dilemma of jugglingmultiple career and personal roles, cultural attitudesaffecting girls in technology classes, and the barriersfaced by women who select careers in these areas. Thegirls explored Web sites, such as Distinguished Womenof Past and Present (http://www.distinguishedwomen.com), to learn about some of the challenges faced bywomen with interests in computer science and engineer-ing. They found interesting facts, links devoted to femaletechno-pioneers, and compelling biographies of inspira-tional women, from Rosalind Franklin to Ada AugustaLovelace.

Each of the senior high girls conducted adva n c e dWeb-based re s e a rch about a pioneer in technology, sci-

:

gifted child today 15

ence, or math, focusing on character-istics of these women and the patternsthey found across the differe n twomen. They found both intere s t i n gactivities and case studies aboutwomen and technology from pro f e s-sional associations such as TheComputer Re s e a rch Association’sCommittee on the Status of Wo m e nin Computing Re s e a rch (http://www.c r a . o r g / Activities/craw), which isfunded by the National ScienceFoundation. This group is dedicatedto increasing the number of womenp a rticipating in computer science andengineering re s e a rch and education atall levels. The girls also found infor-mation about the Ada Pro j e c t( h t t p : / / t a p. mills.edu), a clearing-house for information and re s o u rc e srelating to women and computing, aswell as information about womenwho play a leadership role in technol-ogy (http://www. c i o. c o m / a rc h i ve /0 7 0 1 9 9 _ w o m e n . h t m l ) .

The girls learned that, while theirnumbers are still small (theInformation Technology Associationof America reports that women holdjust 25% of all professional IT posi-tions), women bring invaluable skillsto technology organizations, andtheir research convinced them thatmany women executives excel in theseareas. Taking their cue from a studyof professional women who havechanged power structures in the cor-porate world by using the methods ofn e t w o rking and mentorship, theyoung women implemented thesei m p o rtant lessons about network-ing—both figuratively and virtually.

An idea began to develop about aworkshop that could be shared withboth younger girls in their districtand other interested audiences by wayof an online mentorship. To facilitatethis process, teacher Jeri Groves usedNicenet (http://www. n i c e n e t . o r g ) ,which is free to educators and their

students, to set up a virtual classroomthat enabled the girls to have discus-sions and exchange group ideas. Afterconducting independent online stud-ies of female pioneers in science andtechnology, the older girls read anddiscussed the implications of qualita-tive studies of eminent women(Kerr, 1994; Reis, 1998). Thisactivity served to re f i n etheir focus in order tobrainstorm effec-t i vely the mostuseful appli-cations dur-ing theirplanning ses-sion for then ew mentorp rogram. Fi n -a l l y, they beganthe deve l o p m e n tof a broad range ofactivities to “hook”the younger girls.They decided toi n t roduce the pro-gram with a Power-Point pre s e n t a t i o nthey developed tohighlight the achieve-ments of eminentfemale scientists andtechnology pioneersand to underscore thesalient fact that“Science, Ma t h ,Engineering, andTechnology Can BeFun!”

These young mentors followed theadvice of Sherry Turkle, a member ofthe American Association ofUniversity Women’s Commission onTe c h n o l o g y, Ge n d e r, and Te a c h e rEducation and contributor to thereport Tech Savvy: Educating Girls inthe New Computer Ag e (We l l e s l e yCollege Center for Re s e a rch onWomen, 2000). Turkle, a professor of

sociology at MIT, believe sthat girls are critical of computer

culture, rather than computer-pho-bic, and that we must make the com-puter culture more inviting to girls bydemonstrating that technology can beused as a tool to solve real-worldproblems and aid human discourse.Additionally, the study carried out byTurkle found that girls should beencouraged to engage in “tinkeringa c t i v i t i e s” and “a rtistic play”(Wellesley College Center forResearch on Women, p. 10).

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The Milton High students madetheir technology culture more invit-ing during the course of the mentor-ship as they tinkered with colorfullydesigned messages drawing from are p e rt o i re of HTML code. Theydesigned flashing marquees withencouraging affirmations, buttonscreated to elicit pop-up messages, textfashioned in hot pink, and shadoweffects. The artful play led one youngmentee to write to her mentor, “Youteach me a lot! In a month, I’ll be anHTML wiz!” Bulletin board confer-encing took place, where the girlstraded Web sites and shared discus-sions on everything from hurricanetracking, to frog dissection via virtualre a l i t y, to experiments conductedwith “Bob, the Ex-Lab Rat.” In time,interest in technology increased dra-matically for both groups of girls, asdid their knowledge of some of thereasons that girls lose interest inmath, science, and technology.

Progress Made and Lost

While the overall news is generallypositive about the gains made by girlsin math and some areas of scienceduring the 1990s, little progress hasbeen made in the area of technologyand engineering. In fact, a NationalScience Foundation (NSF, 2000)report detailed the problem clearly:“at all levels of education and inemployment, women are less likelythan men to choose science and engi-neering fields” (p. xi). Although thenumber of women receiving degreeshas increased in some areas of scienceand math, bachelor’s degrees grantedto women in computer science haveactually decreased from 37% in 1984to 28% in 1996 (NSF). High schoolgirls still take fewer higher level mathand science classes, and data from the

2004 SAT test indicates that only16% of all of those who expressed aninterest in pursuing engineering andonly 14% of those interested in com-puter or information sciences werefemale (Educational Testing Services,2004). This means that many femalemathematics and technology studentsmay have less interest or encourage-ment to pursue technology, math, orscience than their male counterparts.The problem may be even worse foracademically talented girls, who oftenfail to perform at levels that matchtheir potential (Reis, 1998), particu-larly after they leave high school.

What do we know about girls andtheir declining interests in math, sci-ence, and technology and how doesthat relate to how teachers canencourage girls in these areas? Whilehalf of the new jobs available in thenext two decades will be in the newfields of technology (Jukes, 1997),women’s participation in computersciences has actually decreased overtime (Wellesley College Center forRe s e a rch on Women, 2000). Thefastest increasing employment needsfor the next two decades in our coun-try are the areas of computer engi-neering, programming, and design,and girls need to get involved as earlyas possible in order to become inter-ested in these areas (Green, 2000).Instead, some recent research indi-cates that the opposite is happening.Video games are usually a student’sfirst contact with technology(Mackereth & Anderson, 2000), andsome girls have negative impressionsof the types of games they see theirmale siblings and friends playing.Gender differences in attitude towardcomputers disappear, however, whenstudents can identify with the charac-ters in the software (Volman & vanEck, 2001), which suggests a need formore software that appeals to girls.

Currently, fewer girls than boyslearn and use technology skills athome or in school, and computer useand computer exposure time differsfor boys and girls, as boys have beenfound to monopolize computers,e ven when they are in pre s c h o o l(Nelson & Watson, 1991). Whenboys and girls are paired together atthe computer, research has found thata girl will defer to her partner’s wishes(Volman, 1997). Other research indi-cates that, by the third or fourthgrade, girls are less technologicallyoriented than boys (Nelson &Watson, 1991).

This trend can be changed, how-ever, as the more experience studentshave, the less anxiety and the morepositive response they have to tech-nology. Since boys are more likely tohave access to a computer and expo-s u re to computer games at home(Mark, 1992) and are three timesmore likely to be involved with com-puters during their secondary andp o s t s e c o n d a ry years (Kramer &Lehman, 1990), teachers must helpgirls increase their experiences intechnology. Teachers who do not real-i ze this may unintentionally con-tribute to inequity because of a lackof awareness of the positive actionsthey can take.

When earlier studies found genderinequity in computer education, itwas first thought that the negativeattitudes found in girls were towardcomputers in general. Howe ve r,researchers did not consider learning-style differences (Volman, 1997)between boys and girls. For example,boys may have a higher initial com-f o rt level when using computers,while girls need more training toincrease their comfort level (Vernon-Gerstenfeld, 1989). Also, girls tend tohave less interest in how computers orp rogramming works, and instead

Encouraging Girls in Math, Science, and Technology

gifted child today 17

want to know how to use computersin ways that apply to their live s(Green, 2000).

Too many girls believe that work inthe technology field invo l ves sitting inf ront of a computer screen all day( Green, 2000), and the ideas they for-mulate based on their experiences incomputer courses affect their confi-dence and self-efficacy re g a rding tech-nical and scientific abilities withcomputers. Some re s e a rchers havesuggested that girls want to feel a per-sonal connection to the subject matterthey are learning or see the usefulnessof it (Be l e n s k y, 1986; Ro s s e r, 1989).Confidence and self-efficacy, in turn,a re likely to be related to whetheryoung women continue to take com-puter courses. Boys may feel compe-tent in using computers because ofinternal factors such as ability ande f f o rt. Girls feel less confident in theircomputer ability and may hesitate toclaim proficiency (Volman, 1997).Girls may attribute any problems totheir own failures and their successesto external factors such as luck (Re i s ,1998; Volman).

During the past 15 years, mostschool districts have made significantinvestments in purchasing technol-ogy, and it is a rarity today to find aschool that does not have some typeof computer technology available tostudents. Teachers often recognize theimportance and impact of the tech-nology revolution and have worked itinto the curriculum. Girls, however,tend to shy away from technologycourses because of a lack of interest(Volman, 1997). The more advancedthe level of computer courses, thelarger the gender gap becomes.Gender differences are not as preva-lent when computers are used forword processing or computer-assistedinstruction (Mark, 1992). With littleto encourage them, girls usually use

computers as a tool for word process-ing and communicating with theirfriends (Kramer & Lehman, 1990;Wellesley College Center forResearch on Women, 1998), whileboys more often use computers forhigher level tasks such as program-ming and in computer applicationcourses in graphic arts and computer-aided design (Volman; We l l e s l e yCollege Center for Re s e a rch onWomen).

Interest in math, technology, andscience must be stimulated for girls,as high school girls cite an absence ofinterest as the reason fewer girls par-ticipate in computer classes (Volman,1997). Un f o rt u n a t e l y, adva n c e dclasses may not help peak interests. Ina study with 455 adolescents, boysindicated higher levels of enjoymentwith technology both before and aftersuch a course (Ma c k e reth &Anderson, 2000). The We l l e s l e yCollege Center for Re s e a rch onWomen (2000) reported that girlsdislike computer pro g r a m m i n gclasses because of the narrow techni-

cal focus and found that girls do notpursue computer courses in highschool because they are critical of thecomputer culture, rather than themistaken belief that they are com-puter-phobic. To address this lack ofinterest, teachers can work to designgender-inclusive instruction to teachcomputer education in a way that isboth effective and attractive to girls(Volman), as Carol Graham did.

Specific Strategies

Teachers can implement specificstrategies to help girls succeed in tech-n o l o g y. Girls in the upper elementaryor middle school grades are at a part i c-ularly critical point in their scientific,mathematical, and technical deve l o p-ment. When teachers create enviro n-ments that nurt u re and encourage, theyoffer support and confidence to girlswho may be interested in adva n c e do p p o rtunities in math, science, andtechnology (National Council ofTeachers of Mathematics, 2000).

Web Sites Dealing Specifically With Gender Issuesin Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Biographies of Women Mathematicianshttp://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/women.htmThis site provides extensive biographical information on women mathe-maticians, as well as some photographs.

TeacherTECHhttp://teachertech.rice.eduThis site focuses on girls being shortchanged in computers and technology.

Girls: Math and Science Achievementhttp://www.maec.org/girlmath.htmlThis site provides information on math and science achievement for girls.

Closing the Gaphttp://www.terc.edu/mathequity/cg/html/cg-home.htmlThis site provides extensive information on using math clubs for girls.

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Teachers play a critical role in encour-aging girls in these areas by acting asrole models and creating a psyc h o l o g i-cally safe environment that is conduciveto all students’ learning. For example,Rogers (1990) found that teachers whomade significant pro g ress in attractingtalented females to higher level mathe-matics courses created open and sup-p o rt i ve classroom environments for allstudents. Gavin (1996) found thatalmost half of the female mathematicsmajors at a ve ry competitive collegeattributed their decision to major inmathematics to the influence of a highschool teacher, specifically someonewho maintained a personal re l a t i o n s h i pwith his or her students thro u g h o u ttheir college years.

To improve the climate for teach-ing mathematics, technology, and sci-ence, teachers must analyze their ownfeelings about these content areas. Ifthey feel fear, dislike, or ambivalence,their teaching may inadve rt e n t l yreflect these feelings. Fear or dislike oftechnology may be reflected in prefer-ences in their teaching, curriculum,and classroom activities.

Adolescent girls, particularly thosewith talents in mathematics, science,and technology, may receive mixedmessages from parents, peer groups,and their teachers. These studentsneed specific encouragement to helpthem believe that they have potentialin these areas and to encourage themto pursue these areas in high school,college, and beyond. In particular,they need to be encouraged to pursuecontinued studies in the field and toe n roll in and complete adva n c e dtechnology and computer classes(Reis, 1998). All students, especiallyadolescent girls, need classrooms inwhich they will be heard and under-stood, and where they can discussideas. The teacher should provide asetting where “think time” is pro-vided. Watching to see that computer

access is fairly divided is also essential,and teachers should provide equaltime to girls and boys for high-techcomputer activities (Nugent, 2001).

Some research (Reis, 1998) hasindicated that girls may have optimallearning opportunities in math, sci-ence, and technology in small groupswith other girls. In coed groups, boysmay dominate, becoming the leadersin the group and monopolizing thediscussion, while girls become therecorders of the discussions. This isespecially true in computer work, forboys may demand and use the key-b o a rd far more often than girls.Encouraging girls to work together inpairs can help to provide more access.In addition, some single-sex classenvironments may help girls to excelin these areas. At Westover School, anindependent all-female school inConnecticut, efforts have been made

for a decade to encourage girls inmath, science, and technology, andlast spring, 44 of 48 Westover seniorstook the Advanced Placement calcu-lus exam. According to Ann Pollina,the principal of the school, a com-mon question for girls at the schoolis, “How do I get into AP Calculus?”

Opportunity for single-sex studydoes not have to be limited to girls’schools, however, as many public andindependent coeducational schoolsoffer math, science, and technologyclubs for girls, computer camps forgirls, and summer programs for girlsthat enable the exploration of thesea reas in support i ve enviro n m e n t s .Some teachers have created all-femaleMath Olympiad teams, MathCountsteams, and clubs that have workedwell (Volpe, 1999). Establishingopportunities for girls as after-schoolor activity-period alternatives pro-

Encouraging Girls in Math, Science, and Technology

. . . by the third or fourth grade, girls are less

technologically orientedthan boys . . .

This trend can be changed, however . . .

gifted child today 19

vides the freedom toc o n f ront math andtechnology anxiety, ifthey exist, and tod e l ve into complexproblems in a friendlyenvironment (Karp &Niemi, 2000). Femalerole-models in va r i-ous math-related pro-fessions can be guestspeakers at the clubmeetings, and fieldtrips can be taken toexplore career optionsthat may inspire abudding mathemati-cian.

Ef f o rts must also bemade to have techno-logical pro f i c i e n c yembedded into allcontent areas inschool. Once studentsand teachers under-stand how to use tech-nological tools for

data gathering and analysis, pro d u c td e velopment, and other adva n c e dre s e a rch purposes, it will be re g a rd e das an essential learning tool for all stu-dents. Using alternative assessmentscan make a difference, too. In design-ing science, math, and technology cur-ricula, teachers should include avariety of alternative assessments. Assome students may not do their bestthinking during timed tests, otheroptions can enable them to demon-strate their knowledge and competen-cies in various ways.

Independent and/or small-gro u pp rojects, Type III in Re n z u l l i’sEnrichment Triad Model (1977), canp rovide an ideal medium to showc a s etechnological talent. These pro j e c t sshould go beyond a typical term paperand focus on inve s t i g a t i ve activities inwhich students assume the role offirsthand inquirers—thinking, feel-

ing, and acting like practicing pro f e s-sionals. In a widely used enrichmentp rogramming option for talented stu-dents, student products are used as thevehicle to help develop re s e a rch skillsand provide an opportunity to useauthentic methods of inquiry.Technology can be used to aid datagathering and analysis, as well asd e velopment of student pro d u c t s .Using this system, teachers serve asfacilitators, pointing students in thed i rection of re s o u rce persons andmaterials as needed or prov i d i n gd i rection in learning methodology toconduct the investigation. Teachers should also work to prov i d e

female role-models and mentors, asMa ry Ellen Bu r rell, teacher of acade-mically talented students at Mi l t o nHigh School, did. In her intro d u c t i o nto the lesson titled “In Se a rch of aVi rtual Me n t o r,” she inspired theyoung women by recounting thes t ruggles of chemist Ro s a l i n dFranklin, after which they we re eagerto find more courageous stories ofunsung heroes. Yet, role-models neednot all be historical, as examples ofwomen currently working in the fieldsof mathematics and science—mathe-maticians, astronauts, engineers,physicists, and astronomers—can bestudied, as well. The Internet is ane xciting medium for students thatenables them to study and contactsuch professionals. The girls in theMilton High School gifted yo u n gw o m e n’s seminar pre p a red for theirmentorship workshop by exploringl i t t l e - k n own facts about eminentwomen in science and technologyt h rough an search of the Web siteDistinguished Women of Past andPresent. At this site, they found cate-gories ranging from computer scienceto engineering, with links to otherWeb sites devoted to women’s storiesof pioneering the way for all womenwho would pursue careers in the fields

of science and engineering. Carol Su eFlinders (1998) captured the powe rf u llesson inherent in this exe rcise whenshe discussed Ge rda Lerner’s impor-tant work in women’s history as itrelates to women’s emancipation: “Inother words, when a woman is aboutto break away from cultural norms forwomen—to build a house, run forp resident, break a horse—learningthat even one other woman has doneit successfully brings that act into therealm of possibility after all; it has,indeed, what economists call a multi-plier effect on the likelihood that she’l lactually do it” (p. 7).

Leppien (1995) advocated thestudy of literature that re p o rts giftedw o m e n’s lives and works as a much-needed strategy for developing stro n g ,e m p owe red young women. She sug-gested the use of bibliotherapy to pro-vide gifted females with modeling ofp roblem-solving situations similar toones they encounter. Milne and Re i s(2001) also re p o rted that videother-apy using films that highlight theaccomplishments of women can playthe same role as bibliotherapy. In theMilton High mentorship program, aseach teenage scientist shared her find-ings with the rest of her cohort, shee x p l o red the narratives surro u n d i n gthe pioneer’s sense of destiny andcommitment to the path of her work ,i m p o rtant choices the pioneer madewhile accomplishing her goals, andh ow the pioneer inspired the studentas “a pioneer-in-the-making.”

A rew a rding experience for teach-ers, as well as girls, is organizing andp a rticipating in a career day in tech-n o l o g y. At these conferences, oftenheld for girls in middle or highschool, female professionals conducthands-on workshop sessions withgirls, interacting with them andexposing them to actual on-the-jobactivities. One of the greatest benefitsf rom these interactions with pro f e s-

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sional women is the opportunity forestablishing mentorship and intern-ship programs. Pa rticipating in thesep rograms gives girls with interests inmathematics, science, and technol-ogy the opportunity to work dire c t l ywith a female role-model in a re l a t e dc a reer position.

Finally, teachers may create a pow-erful intervention to gender inequityin science, math, and computer edu-cation by providing opportunities forolder female students to mentor theiryounger female counterparts. Theteachers in the talented and giftedp rogram at Milton High Schoolobserved that their students undoubt-edly reaped the most benefit from thementorship adventure and recognizedthat their evaluation of these experi-ences echoed two important conceptsconsistently appearing in the litera-t u re on gifted girls (Brown &Gilligan, 1992; Reis, 1998). First, ap owe rful means by which giftedyoung women may rediscover theirvoices after losing them in middleschool is in remembering those voicesthrough the mentoring of youngergirls. Second, gifted girls gained con-fidence when their peers were success-ful, and even more confidence wasgained by creating a reservoir of suc-cessful personal performances. Manymemories of these past successes aredrawn upon, and thus reinforced, asolder gifted females mentor youngergifted girls.

The young women from theMilton High mentorship pro g r a mcame to the planning seminar with as t rong sense of mission. They spokeclearly about their hopes for helpingthe younger girls make their wayf rom elementary school to middleschool easier by giving them aglimpse of what they have waitingfor them when they get to highschool. During their pre p l a n n i n g

sessions, they reflected back on theirown time in fourth and fifth gradesas being the last time they re m e m-b e red feeling truly free and unself-conscious. The high school studentsindicated that, in middle school,they cared too much about whatothers thought about their actionsand seemed to lose that sense of pas-sion for throwing themselves intoi n t e rests such as science and technol-o g y. It wasn’t until they reached highschool that they began to believethat they could ve n t u re into thosedomains again.

Yet, eve ry high school girl cameback from the mentorship pro g r a ma m a zed at the strong voices andemphatic dreams expressed by thee l e m e n t a ry girls throughout thed a y’s activities. This re velation is note n t i rely surprising: Lyn Mi k e lBrown and Carol Gilligan (1992)re p o rted similar discoveries made byre s e a rchers of the Ha rva rd Project inthe Laurel School setting, implyingthat “adolescence is a time of dis-connection, sometimes of dissocia-tion or re p ression in women’s live s ,so that women often do not re m e m-ber . . . what as girls they have expe-rienced and know n” (p. 4). As theHa rva rd re s e a rchers heard theses t ruggles re p o rted in their yo u n gp a rt i c i p a n t s’ narratives, they “beganto know what we had come not tok n ow” (p. 4).

The second important finding wasaddressed by Reis (1998) as the criti-cal need for gifted women to developa strong sense of self if they are torealize their gifts. Reis discussed theimportance of the psychological con-s t ruct of self-efficacy in outliningm e a s u res to ensure self-efficaciouswomen: verbal persuasion from bothparents and friends, visibility of role-models like themselves, and—mosti m p o rtant of all—opportunities to

produce vital work to create a portfo-lio of past successful performances.One Milton High School mentorsummed it up at the end of her sec-ond year’s workshop:

I think the Sci Tech Chicksseminar and mentorship work-shop is a great help with girls—yes, even high schoolgirls—who are not so certain asto whether or not they shouldgo into a certain field becauseit’s not typical. . . . It’s nice tolevel the playing ground. . . . Itwas amazing to see how manyof those [elementary] girls areinterested in pursuing careersthat aren’t historically associatedwith women. . . . I think that, ifthose girls are supported in theirgoals along the way, then theyhave a better chance of eventu-ally fulfilling them—and I real-ize that I do, too!

Conclusion

Fewer girls have interests in math-ematics, science, engineering, andtechnology and pursuing careers inrelated fields. Intended to promoteequality, the majority of the strategiessuggested in this article have focusedon constructivist, conceptual learningand encouraged positive teachingtechniques designed to help both girlsand boys in communities of learners.Only the wider use of these strategieswill provide answers to questionsabout how we can continue to recruitthe number of students talented inmathematics, science, and technologyour nation needs in the future. Whatshould be clear to all of us is thatfewer girls regard a career involvingmathematics or technology as anattainable goal, and it is vitally impor-tant to encourage and support more

Encouraging Girls in Math, Science, and Technology

gifted child today 21

girls to pursue these areas in thefuture.

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