I just want to preface this story with a disclaimer: I am NOT a professional writer, nor am I planning on pursuing a career in literary analysis. With this being said, I believe myself to be a feminist.
I suppose I'll just start talking, then. I'll explain my current situation: I am a Physics, Option Astrophysics and Pure Mathematics major at UNC Chapel Hill, currently finishing my First Year here.
I can spit a few numbers here, if this will make my situation more credible (citations at the bottom): only 13% of physics graduate students at UCLA are female. Only 15% of colleges across the US have 5 or more staff members in their Physics department who are female. In a recent report by the Institute of Physics, nearly half of all mixed-gender state schools have NO girls studying A-level physics at all. In AP Tests across our nation, boys outnumber girls 4 to 1 among Computer Science test-takers, 2.5 to 1 on Physics C tests, 2 to 1 in Physics B, and 1.51 to 1 on the Calculus BC exam.
Here's a young boy's perspective on why females don't pursue STEM fields: "Boys are naturally adapted to be better at maths and space stuff, whereas girls are better at language and communication. Which means- logically, according to science- boys should have a natural ability to understanding physics a bit better."
Feeling a bit uncomfortable? I sure am. Here's one more of these stories to make you even MORE uncomfortable.
An experiment at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania hired four actors- two male and two females- to play the role of physics professors for a day. The actors deliver identical videotaped lectures. The students were asked to rate each lecturer's performance. And how the stereotypes showed: male and female students think that the male lecturers are more knowledgeable, are better with equipment, and have a better grasp' of the subject.
Perhaps this is due to confirmation bias- where the students think that men are better at physics due to preconceived ideas- after all, the famous astrophysicists and physicists of the last century have been predominately male! Albert Einstein, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Carl Sagan, Steven Hawkings. Only a single female physicist with such renown fame comes to mind- Marie Curie- but even her status in the scientific realm was denoted to 'assistant' of her husband.
Even more recently, Carolina's own Laura Mersini-Houghton, cosmologist and theoretical physicist, recently proved- mathematically- that black holes cannot exist. This is incredibly huge news. Not only does this alter our basic concept of black holes, but also redefines several aspects circumscribing black holes that doesn't make sense. Extrapolating even further, this complicates the possibilities of quantum gravity and changes the perspective of all black hole science. But you know what? She wasn't even given a headline news on any popular news site. Her decades of research had gone unrecognized.
But maybe you're thinking that this doesn't apply to the average student- how can I, simple undergraduate student at a university dominated by females (58% female), feel underrepresented? Across the majors, females may have a greater presence, but we're far underrepresented in STEM fields. Put this in perspective: I am one of 3 female First-Year students majoring in Physics, and the only female First-Year Astrophysics major at UNC Chapel Hill. The other female First-Year Astrophysics major had just switched her major last week.
Routinely, I have felt quite uncomfortable in classes dominated by males. You try to ignore most of the gender bias- it shouldn't matter when we're learning, right? Absolutely wrong. Males, I have noticed, have a tendency to over-talk any sort of contribution from group-mates, especially when they're females. When initially switching groups, I often have to prove my worth in my knowledge of physics. Ever have someone suspicious of your answers, even when you're confident in your understanding? It's annoying, to say the least. Furthermore, in the Society of Physics Students room, a room dedicated to physicists just like me, there often isn't any other females present. 'Yo Mamma' jokes are thrown around; comments about girls being 'whores' and 'sluts' makes me feel as if I need to distance myself from those types of girls- but this isn't a competition. I shouldn't have to put other girls down to feel validated. I shouldn't have to act like a boy to be accepted.
I shouldn't be fighting for validation simply because of my gender.
If I want to act feminine- wear skirts and dresses, etc.- I shouldn't feel out of place to do so! We need to stop telling our girls that they're not inclined to learn maths and sciences, and that these subjects will be 'more difficult for them to do so.' We need to make girls feel comfortable pursuing these subjects, assisting them as they discover the subjects that they truly love. And likewise, we need to also encourage the destruction of gender-biased subjects. If a boy wants to study English or Nursing, then he should feel at liberty to do so!
And to my middle-school teacher who told me to give up math because "it wasn't becoming for ladies": I hope you'll be able to see me next semester when I start researching on highly-advanced astrophysical topics. Which one? I don't know yet- but I sure as well won't let my gender stop me from pursuing anything I love.
