Ganos for Women in Science
Jaime Escalante died recently, and I suspect that the movie he inspired, "Stand and Deliver," about his work at Garfield High School in LA with advanced mathematics students, shot up in sales. Edward James Olmos, the actor who played the part of Escalante in the film, continued to care about him and had a fund raiser for his medical expenses shortly before his death.
The big message that Escalante, and the film, sent out to everyone is this: people fulfill your expectations of them. You can expect them to succeed, demand that they grow, fill them with ganos (desire and determination). Or, you can look out at a sea of poor and poorly prepared students whom some might say were destined to fail, not expect much, and basically give up. Escalante did not, and his success in turning on math students was an inspriation to people all over the country.
So, I'm hoping we all expect the maximum from young women we encoutner who are considering science as a career. I hope we are shwoing them we know they can do it, and always try to show that to them in every possible way. A vote of confidence with enthusiasm can contradict and dispell effects of some other stereotype threat your student, collague, neighbor has received elsewhere.
Do you have examples of young women you've mentored where high expectations have been fulfilled, or have come true years later? Please share!
Very interesting, "helpful perspective!"
I have posted some comments from Barres and from a man who became a woman through the transgendering process, both active scientists. They are anecdotes, of course, but very powerful ones!
cheers,
Laura
When Ben Barres was Barbara Barres, studying at MIT, she was once the only student to solve a hard math problem in one of her classes. The professor accused her of having had her boyfriend solve it. This is NOT ganos, but the opposite. Overt stereotyping!
Good for you, Helen. And you are in a setting where you must have to go out of your way to find people to mentor, in industry not in academia, so it's even more admirable!
About 10 years ago, my college senior thesis advisor retired from Goucher College and women came from all over the country to talk about their work in science and thank her for inspiring them. It made the effects of mentoring visible in a way I hadn't seen them before. Of course, I think about mentoring all the time, but I don't hear often from graduates who've gone out into the world. It's always a pleasure when it happens, though.
cheers,
Laura
Plenty! 2/3 of my Hughes 8th grade research fellows were on to become National Merit Scholars. One is in training as an MD/PhD. The second is now a postdoc...yes I'm old. Both my high school student associates majored in Biology for their BS. One got her MS on the topic of Women in Science. The other is in MD training. And my grad student mentee went on to become faculty at an undergraduate research institution. I'm very, very proud of each one!
