“Gender and Race Matters” in STEM Notre Dame of Maryland University Community Day 2014 Jocelyn McKeon and Angela Sherman 1

Tale of two narratives: Science and math aptitude is unrelated to gender, study suggests January 2006, Vol 37, No. 1 Last January, Harvard University President Lawrence Summers, PhD, suggested that men outperform women in high-level science and mathematics due to genetics, not life experience. However, an analysis by Harvard University psychology professor Elizabeth Spelke, PhD, in the American Psychologist (Vol. 60, No. 1) counters that suggestion. Her review finds that boys and girls share the same biologically-based cognitive capacities from which mathematical and scientific reasoning develop… …[Spelke] found that the majority of studies suggested that both men's and women's mathematical and scientific abilities have a genetic basis in cognitive systems that emerge in early childhood. When researchers compare male and female infants' and children's performances, they find that they perform equally well. For instance, 6- month-old boys and girls equally perform simple additions and subtractions and compare one small set to another. Narrative #1: No Genetic Difference 2

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Narrative #2: “On the ground”, experiential reality of differences Angela Sherman’s Story Mellody Hobson’s Story and Insights 6

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11 Intent of First-Year College Students to Major in STEM Fields, 2006

12 Why does it matter? Attracting and retaining more women in the STEM workforce will maximize innovation, creativity, and competitiveness…When women are not involved in the design of these products, needs and desires unique to women may be overlooked. For example, “some early voice-recognition systems were calibrated to typical male voices. As a result, women’s voices were literally unheard... Similar cases are found in many other industries. For instance, a predominantly male group of engineers tailored the first generation of automotive airbags to adult male bodies, resulting in avoidable deaths for women and children” (Margolis & Fisher, 2002, pp. 2–3). With a more diverse workforce, scientific and technological products, services, and solutions are likely to be better designed and more likely to represent all users. Science-Technology-Engineering-and-Mathematics.pdf

13 RECOMMENDATIONS—WHAT CAN WE DO? Share the news about women’s achievements in STEM Teach students and teachers about stereotype threats Support programs that reach girls talented and gifted in STEM fields Emphasize real-life applications in early STEM courses Support women in STEM majors—seminars, networking events, STEM clubs Raise awareness about bias against women in STEM fields Technology-Engineering-and-Mathematics.pdfhttp:// Technology-Engineering-and-Mathematics.pdf

14 REFERENCES science-technology-engineering-mathematics/ nts/womeninstemagaptoinnovation8311.pdf nts/educationsupportsracialandethnicequalityinstem_0.pdf