A Conference Review
Dr. Danielle R. Bernstein
Computer Science Department
Kean College of New Jersey
Why is mathematics called the "New Latin"? Because it is the
language of the educated, the tool of upward mobility. So it was
natural that Kean College, located in an urban area of New Jersey
with a sizeable population of Hispanic and other minorities would
sponsor a conference on "Women in Mathematics and Computer
Science". Why the emphasis on women? Because the challenges of
encouraging girls and women to persevere with mathematics and
become comfortable with computing are still with us. Long after
the problem was recognized, defined and documented in the
scholarly literature, it is still difficult to convince many
women that they will need mathematics and computing, no matter
what careers they choose.
Though it is years since "Overcoming Math Anxiety" by Sheila Tobias was first written and Sally Hacker did her pioneering work on the culture of technology, it was obvious that the concern was not of historical interest only. The response to the invitation to attend the conference was overwhelming. We had a sell-out crowd of almost two hundred people consisting of high school teachers of mathematics and computer science, community college and university professors and community activists.
Patricia Kenshaft, a Mathematics Professor from Montclair State University, was our keynote speaker. Pat's activism started about 1980 when she saw that women in the MAA seemed invisible; there but not speaking and rarely spoken to. Men were on the agenda almost exclusively and women were not even included in the question and answer period. She organized the New Jersey chapter of AWM, became its first president and set about to change the perception that there "were no qualified women in mathematics", both in the mathematical organizations and in the media.
In her talk, Pat dealt directly with the problem of low math scores for women on the SATs and other standardized tests. Boys are socialized to give quick answers and compete. And success on these multiple choice tests demand instantaneous, confident answers. Girls tend to contemplate problems from many points of view, slowing them down and making them doubt themselves. But are these tests good indicators of college performance? In college, women do better in mathematics courses. To get the same college grades in math, boys have to get 40 points more than girls on the SAT. M.I.T. tried to equalize the grades in math between males and females. They said, "Let's accept girls with up to 40 points less than boys on the math SAT on the same basis." The reaction to that was horror at "lowering standards."
So, Pat asks, what can we do to equalize the playing field? As instructors in the classroom at any level, we can call on females and not get distracted by the males that take up more air time. We can praise women when they do well. We can point out that people of both genders truly enjoy mathematical careers. But the most important commodity we can give to anyone is their attention. Pat was funny, wise, energetic and full of real information. She supplied a page of references to those eager to pursue her ideas.
The panel session, which followed, entitled "Bringing about change: What do I do Monday morning? A perspective from different positions" reinforced the theme of the conference. Kathy Detrano, a director at AT&T, showed the variety of jobs available in her company for people with math and CS backgrounds. System analysts, testers, designers, marketers: we must show students that they can do much more with these subjects than teach and become programmers. Another Kathy, Kathy Ciociola, was a good example of that since she is Director of Telecommunications at Rutgers University. Her background, Catholic high school followed by a degree in Chemical Engineering, was not the standard route to her current position. But in 1963 when she finished high school, the system forgot to tell her that women did not go to engineering school. Her prior single-sex education had given her the confidence to just plunge in when she discovered that she was the only woman in her classes.
Suddenly, both the panel and the audience picked up on single-sex education. All the women on the panel had been educated in an all-female setting at some point; most in Catholic schools (because that's where the majority of single-sex education occurs in the U.S.) and one in an academically powerful women's college, which now has become co-ed. Was this a coincidence? Was this good? What about the real world? The only man on the panel, Gus Rogers, an African-American who is head of computer security at Merck, saw many parallels between this discussion and the wisdom of schools for African-American males. The single-sex issue dominated the conversation at most tables during lunch.
The afternoon started with seven break-out groups on topics ranging from "Collaborative Learning", a hot issue in computer science to "Challenges facing Hispanic Women". Eileen Edelman, a high school teacher, attracted large participation with her catchy title of "Honey, your polynomials are so neat. Strategies in the high school classroom". That group spent time discussing classroom management. Discipline in high school is part of the gender issue; Boys take up more of the teacher's time.
The last presentation was on Math Options, a program developed by Penn State and generously funded by industry, which brings twelve-year old girls on the college campus for a day to show them what fun math and science can be. They have a large pool of industry women who are eager to show these girls the kind of careers that they can aim for, from chemical engineering to veterinary medicine. The theme of that day is a parallel one to that of the conference: to keep their options open, girls have to stick with math and science. It is a program that we, at Kean College, plan to offer next year.