Girls’ interest and competitive drive is being severely dampened by the domination of boys and the proliferation of pushing males through the industry. In terms of real life value, it can only be advantageous for there to be equal numbers of both sexes moving towards the future scientific interests of Australia and the world. To condone the disengagement of female students in what is considered by many to be a traditionally male subject is tantamount to robbing them of an interesting, engaging and fast-developing profession.
There are ways to encourage females back into the subject and profession that can be instigated by both teachers and parents. Negative stigma towards girls following their interest of science should fall by the way-side and a strong focus on supporting them in their pursuits should be a primary goal of schools and science teachers.
Ways to promote a more female-friendly science outlook:
Female scientists as role models
Madame Curie’s accidental discovery of radium in her pursuits of isolating radioactive isotopes for the creation of what are now x-ray machines started over 100 years of a fundamental presence of women contributing to science. Her subsequent and well-deserved Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry enlisted her not only on the scientific and medical halls of fame, but cultural as well.
Other well-honoured female scientists:
- Elizabeth Blackwell was also a beacon of Feminism, as she was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the late 19th century.
- Gerty T. Cori won a Nobel prize in 1947 for pioneering work on nutrition by her studies in the metabolising of sugars and carbohydrates.
- Rosalind Franklin was also a notable lady of science, as she played a key role in discovering and documenting human DNA structures in the 1950’s.
In more modern times since the acceptance of women into mainstream universities and schools, alongside society’s acknowledgement that their findings were indeed seminal, females have played a key role in the development of science. By highlighting this role and the many women who have contributed to it, there is a real chance of refocussing disengaged female students who feel it is best left up to the men to pursue scientific endeavours.
A Female-science conscience
There is so much to celebrate in terms of noteworthy women who have contributed to science since the first documented example of Cleopatra the Alchemist in the early AD years. Female students need to see what is possible for them to achieve today, compared with how extraordinarily the women of history performed when they were with faced with oppression, stagnation and ridicule.
Society, the education system and the curriculum have moved forward significantly since the 18th, 19th and even 20th centuries to steadily improve discrimination and open up the opportunities for both sexes. There is always more that could be done, but by focussing on what is possible and the tangible achievements of women scientists over time, female students should start to see how their role in science today is an invaluable and necessary one.