“We want extra feminine energy in STEM, so please be part of us!”
At the beginning of every college 12 months, that is my rallying name as I go to all of the Ninth-grade math courses in my highschool to recruit college students for our Laptop Science (CS) pathway program.
As a lifelong STEM fanatic, I’ve typically questioned in regards to the persistent lack of variety within the area. In keeping with knowledge from the Nationwide Heart for Science and Engineering Statistics, in 2021, roughly one-third of females aged 18-74 labored in STEM, in comparison with 65% of males in the identical age vary. Gender disparities are much more pronounced throughout race, ethnicity, and incapacity standing.
I’ve recognized two main elements: Lack of assist programs and lack of illustration.
Lack of assist programs is usually influenced by a pupil’s background, notably in cultures the place ladies are discouraged from pursuing schooling. My childhood in Korea was enriched by instructional cartoon books about area, fueling my want to develop into a scientist. Throughout school, I relished my function as a analysis assistant, regardless of battling swarms of mosquitoes whereas amassing water samples in marshes. And now, I’m a CS instructor.
I rely myself lucky to have had supportive dad and mom who by no means dictated my selection of main or profession based mostly on gender norms. Sadly, many feminine college students don’t get pleasure from the identical privilege.
How will we tackle this? Via the second issue – lack of illustration.
Addressing gender disparity all the time within the forefront of my thoughts in my work. I combine classes that showcase outstanding ladies in STEM careers and spotlight the achievements of my feminine friends from my time as a NASA intern.
However extra importantly, I present up on daily basis as a feminine instructor in a Title 1 college, proudly representing an individual of coloration and a first-generation immigrant, passionately instructing in regards to the wonders of STEM.
Over time, I’ve witnessed a rising variety of feminine college students becoming a member of our pathway. Maybe it’s due to a basic growing curiosity in CS amongst ladies. However I imagine that (at the very least partially) I function a job mannequin for college students who might not have seen ladies within the CS and STEM fields earlier than, prompting them to at the very least discover the category in Ninth grade.
Some might argue, “However Sangmin, you’re simply doing all of your job.” Sure, and it’s been working! Two of my greatest feminine college students are interning as junior coders at Bloomberg and JP Morgan & Chase. And it nonetheless brings me pleasure (and tears of happiness) once I take into consideration the members of my first cohort of feminine CS college students who went on to main in pc science in school.
In my first 12 months of instructing CS, out of 25 college students, solely three have been feminine. Now, practically half of my Ninth grade class is made up of feminine college students. That’s why I proceed my work & my rallying cry every college 12 months: To encourage extra younger ladies to pursue STEM – and see them fly excessive!
Sangmin Pak is a instructor at Richmond Hill Excessive College in Queens, NYC. Sangmin had been largely instructing Earth Science in a co-teaching setting as a particular schooling instructor, however now she has absolutely immersed herself within the CTE world. Because the Director of the Software program Engineering Pathway at RHHS and as an educator-researcher with NASA’s Local weather Change Analysis Initiative (CCRI), she prioritizes accessible schooling for all college students, particularly in STEM topics.
