21–30 of 112 posts
It still remains to be seen how doing more of something (or being more successful at something) in high school translates to being successful at that endeavor later in life. Time will tell!
The winning entry was for finding a way to overcome the resistance to a drug by cancer cells. I'm curious, how does a 17 year old get access to labs, chemicals, cell cultures required to conduct the study ? Is it common in US for students of this age to have access to such things ?
So, this work was either given to her, or she worked her *ss off to get there.
The winning entry was for finding a way to overcome the resistance to a drug by cancer cells. I'm curious, how does a 17 year old get access to labs, chemicals, cell cultures required to conduct the study ? Is it common in US for students of this age to have access to such things ?
I wondered the same thing about the third place contestant. The write-up said she measured the carcinogens in grilled chicken using a high pressure liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer. When I was in college, they would only let us use the analytic equipment in planned labs under supervised conditions. I can only imagine the response if I went to the lab manager and asked if I could put a piece of chicken in his sp…
I didn't read the article in is entirety, but one line popped out at me, where one of the finalists says something like "Yeah! Girl power!" Am I the only one who feels like, although men may 'dominate' the hard sciences, one of the reasons (among many others which I won't discuss) why girls may succeed at stages like this is because of the encouragement from a "girl power!" (perhaps, underdog?) mentality? If boys won…
In high school, my all-girl team won the state science league twice, and I finished first individually. Did we take pride and inspiration in the fact that we'd beaten all the boys in the state? Absolutely! Were we truly at an advantage when it came to math and science education? I never felt like it, and I knew a lot of bright girls who internalized the "girls aren't supposed to be good at this" message in ways that affected their education and career choices. Sometimes a little girl power is just what helps you to keep going in the face of subtle or overt discouragement from the people around you.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Solidarity has historically been acceptable in disadvantaged groups and frowned upon when exhibited by privileged groups. This reasons for this should be fairly obvious.
True, but I guess I'm starting to feel that girls are no longer "disadvantaged." Less interested, maybe, disadvantaged, not so much. EDIT: for context, I'm a child of the 90's, perhaps much different (or not) from some of you. I grew up in liberal(?) Silicon Valley. As a male, my entire life I've felt that girls were encouraged to succeed academically, received extra help, and greatly praised for their accomplishment…
This reminds of research showing that "Over 80% of high school leadership positions are now held by girls (Fiscus, 1997.)" ( from http://cfge.wm.edu/Gifted%20Educ%20Artices/GenderGenius.htm ) It still remains to be seen how doing more of something (or being more successful at something) in high school translates to being successful at that endeavor later in life. Time will tell!
As an Asian immigrant, and I knew plenty of Asian women who did superbly in high school - student council, extracurriculars, excellent academics, etc etc... who had the rug pulled from under them as soon as they graduated.
Some of them made it into prestigious universities far from home - but weren't allowed to go, since "girls shouldn't be too far from family"... whereas dudes can, apparently. A few (thankfully not many) were dissuaded from going into lucrative fields since it "wouldn't leave time for children later" or would make it "unlikely to find a good husband" (in Asian circles this usually means stability and a fat paycheck).
It would not surprise me if, among all the reasons why women are held back in society, their own parents are a huge cause.
The winning entry was for finding a way to overcome the resistance to a drug by cancer cells. I'm curious, how does a 17 year old get access to labs, chemicals, cell cultures required to conduct the study ? Is it common in US for students of this age to have access to such things ?
She worked under a professor at a nearby University. So, this work was either given to her, or she worked her *ss off to get there.
When I was in high school I wanted to get into video games badly. I found someone at the local EA office, got to meet him, got introduced around, and even got his mentorship on a few projects. All of this, I think, based on the notion that I'm a smart-lookin' 16 year-old student.
Try getting that with just a phone call when you're out of school and in your 20s and 30s.
I didn't read the article in is entirety, but one line popped out at me, where one of the finalists says something like "Yeah! Girl power!" Am I the only one who feels like, although men may 'dominate' the hard sciences, one of the reasons (among many others which I won't discuss) why girls may succeed at stages like this is because of the encouragement from a "girl power!" (perhaps, underdog?) mentality? If boys won…
In fifth grade, my science teacher asked me if I'd copied answers off the boy who sat in front of me, even though my grade average was 20 points higher than his. In sixth grade, my math teacher was well known to favor the boys in the class and would only call on me if I was the only one with my hand raised. In eighth grade, another teacher chose two boys to represent the school at a math competition even though I had…
how many bright men are internalizing messages detrimental to their education and career choices? maybe a little guy power would help them keep going in the face of subtle etc.
I hope those those who needed a reminder about the capabilities of girls or women see this news.
However, (and I realize this will be controversial) imo this result doesn't contradict the general notion that girls (in mainstream American culture) are discouraged (by societal and cultural pressures) from engaging in science and engineering. Two of the three girls are Indian-American and these girls presumably don't face the same pressures that most other American girls face.
For that matter, I think that women in countries like India, China, Russia etc. are much more represented in science and engineering (in their countries) than native-born women in the US.