Women in Science: A study of the socialization of high school women in science classes

Abstract

People are taught to have specific ideas of what is fitting of a women. While the women's rights movement has helped society progress, there are still social influences that subtly perpetuate the stereotypical women. While it is no longer acceptable to say stereotypical things about women, young women and men are still socialized to have an idea of what a women should be engrained in their minds. Our study looked into the specific stereotype that women are incapable of doing science. Our goal in this study was to identify some of the specific influences that push high school girls out of the sciences. By doing classroom observations, interviews, and surveys we were able to identify some of the reasons why women are underrepresented in science careers and majors.