Women count

Professor leads movement to bring girls into math and science careers

Elizabeth Yanik considers herself lucky.

When she told her father she wanted to study mathematics in college, he supported her all the way.

"He thought it was a perfectly reasonable choice. My father wasn't a mathematician, but he thought I should be able to do anything I want to do.

"That attitude of support made all the difference in the world," she said.

With her father's encouragement, and the help of a number of excellent teachers along the way, Yanik had the background to eventually earn her PhD in math and follow a career she finds rewarding.

But she recognizes that other school-age girls are not so lucky.

For a variety of reasons — lack of self-confidence, stereotyping and parental influence chief among them — many girls tend to lose interest in science and math in middle school. As a result, women are underrepresented in lucrative scientific and technical fields.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women make up 45.8 percent of the labor force with at least a bachelor's degree. However, they only comprise 26 percent of information technology workers and 23.6 percent in science and math-related occupations. Women represent just 9.5 percent of all engineers.

"Math is like a door," said Yanik. "If you're successful and that door opens, there are lots of fantastic and high-paying careers waiting for you. If you don't have a math background, the door to many of those options is shut."

To help even out this gender imbalance, Yanik, along with her colleague Marvin Harrell, has organized two annual conferences for young women in Kansas: "Expanding Your Horizons" and "Sonia Kovalesky Days." Both are observed at colleges and universities nationwide. They also coordinate the "MASTER IT!" summer math and science camp at ESU.

For the past 10 years, "Expanding Your Horizons" has brought middle-school girls to ESU for hands-on sessions with female scientists, mathematicians and engineers. According to Yanik, the conference serves to present a positive image of professional scientists, technicians and teachers.

"How many kids get to meet a woman chemist or a woman computer scientist? These are very normal women with productive lives and families," said Yanik. "Through the discussions, young girls find out they can good life and have a good career. The passion for what these guest speakers do really comes through."

In mid-February, schools around the nation observe Sonia Kovalevsky Mathematics Day, which honors a Russian mathematician who became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in 1874 and the first woman math professor in 1883. At ESU, high school students and their teachers are invited to campus for a day of science and math workshops as well as panel discussions on career opportunities.

Yanik encourages development of similar programs as a national director of the Woman and Mathematics Network, which touches 200,000 pre-college woman in 20 regions nationwide. In the 21 years since the network was founded, the percentage of women who earn bachelors degrees in math has climbed to as high as 49 percent.

Since 2001, Yanik has helped organize two summer "Women Count" conferences that bring together experienced and prospective directors of math outreach programs for young women.

The July conference in Boulder, Colo. funded by the National Security Agency and the Mathematical Association of America drew university professors and teachers from all over the country. The participants are involved in activities ranging from after-school clubs and summer camps to tutoring programs and one-on-one mentorships with professional mathematicians.

A 2005 conference is already in the works, with a focus on developing methods to track the success of these outreach programs.

"The middle school years are crucial," said Yanik. "Young women begin to start thinking that math is not something girls go into, and we don't know exactly why."

"Many of these programs are for middle-school girls to encourage them to just stick with it. If they check out at this point, it can be hard to turn them around in high school and college."

 

Last Updated July 2, 2007>