Do Science Kits Matter?
Dear friends of women in science,
On November 30, Edmunds Scientific made an official announcement. They had removed the categories called "Girls' Novelty Kits" and "Boys' Novelty Kits," categories on which they had received massive negative commentary. Most of the commentary focused on the issue of women in science. Identifying science-oriented kits as for boys did not seem to work towards the recruitment of women to science? Of course! The negative commentary was not only on their own blog and twitter account, but also on the sites of Scientific American and MSNBC Cosmic Log.
The company now has just one category called Novelty Science Kits. They apologized to anyone who was offended by the original posting. Here is part of their posting, "Our original intent was not to project gender bias, but to organize our product selection in a way that makes it easy to find specific items. We now realize that decision resulted in a category structure projecting gender bias and defining gender roles. We regret that choice, as it does not reflect our intent or beliefs."
I don't know how many women in science out there had the same kind of experiences I did as a kid, but my parents, who were very supportive in many ways, never got me a chemistry kit that I asked for every single Christmas. I don't recall ever being told it was for boys, but the fact that my male cousin got one sent me that message subliminally. My dad and my cousin had a good time talking about his chemistry kit while I sulked, unnoticed, with my paper dolls. Now, that is a bit unfair to my dad, who always supported my science fair projects and even borrowed equipment for me when I needed it. But this particular item, the chemistry set, I could not get. Perhaps that is why I became a biologist instead of a chemist, although as a molecular biologist, I still study molecules.
How did this play out in the lives of you other female scientists, or for my male readers, in the lives of your sisters or cousins?
cheers,
Laura
Hi Amy,
I'm glad your parents encouraged you with these presents! I am sure all of us in science and math would have loved that but in many cases, our parents just couldn't break out of the societal stereotypes. But since yours did, there are probably more women out there in that situation who have that encouragement to thank for early interest in the field.
cheers,
Laura
Dear Marian for Math,
I loved your story about being the "boy" for your father. Although there were only two girls in my family, I had somewhat the same experience. My dad took me for walks in the woods where I gained a love of biology, and he helped me with getting the tools I needed for my science fair projects. I have also heard from one of my two biography subjects, Jennifer Doudna, that her father took her, the oldest of three sisters, under his wing and did a lot of activities with her to develop her intellect, kind of a 'boy" treatment too. It's a theme that others have seen among women in math and science.
best,
Laura
Laura,
As an older child in a family of 7 girls and 1 boy (who is 8 years younger than I), I was my father's "boy" for many years. He was a chemist (water treatment and quality) and often did basic chemistry tests at home and explained them to me. (I had to relearn parts of chemistry when in high school -- he spoke of valences, having been educated prior to quantum mechanics finding its way to the chem department, and not P and S orbitals.
My father also taught me to wire a house, thread copper pipe, do basic plumbing, build a brick wall, mix cement, work on my car, etc. I had the aptitude and our personalities meshed, so I seemed to be his constant helper.
I can't say my father encouraged me to be a scientist, but he certainly taught me that I could be competent in "boys" fields. My mother avoided science, but as a self-made woman, encouraged us to try new things and not fear the unknown.
I don't think I ever asked for chemistry set or other similar item, but I know I coveted the Erector Set of the boy up the block! We spent many hours building things with it.
As a college graduation present, my mother tracked down the text that was the Number Theory "bible" as a gift for me; it cost far more than I could afford on a student's salary. I think that's encouragement! Not sure she had any clue what the text was about, but it didn't matter.
Marian
I didn't ask for them (or want them) but got them anyway! I also got random lab equipment and DIY kits: clamps, stands, tubes and stoppers, etc. I mostly liked the piece of rabbit fur my dad had hoped I'd do static electricity experiments with. Slept with it instead.
He'll be delighted, though; I have a circuits kit I bought myself a few years ago & never really used. I've offered it to my daughter, who's over the moon about it. She wants to mess with my chemistry set, too, but I've told her we're going to learn some about the elements involved, first. The Theodore Gray book is wonderful.
I guess I was too intimidated to even ask. I seem to recall conversations with my mom about items in the Sears catalog for the holidays where she told me "that's for boys" about chemistry sets. I loved the idea of stinks and explosions, so I checked out books from the library and learned how to make bottle rockets, etc. There's always a way for a determined woman! LM
Yes, Laura, I too asked repeatedly for a chem set with no results. And I, too became a biologist with interest in molecules. Hmm.
I am glad to see Edmund's, a sort of science-for-the-people catalog/online store, take this step in the right direction!
FBP
