This will be a short blog posting, but I wanted to quickly share an article that was recently forwarded to me. "Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science":
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
A couple of brief reactions:
-I'm not sure that any professors actually encouraged me to go to graduate school. I know that once I was in a master's program, I was definitely encouraged to continue to a PhD, but I don't recall my undergraduate professors suggesting grad school. I think a big part of my decision to pursue a graduate degree actually came from hanging out with graduate students on the triathlon team at UCSD. They made grad school seem like a reasonable thing to do. The author brings up several times that she was not encouraged to pursue a graduate degree (and somewhat discouraged from applying to a prestigious program), but it makes me wonder about how other people decided to go to grad school. Was anyone else specifically encouraged to go to graduate school by undergraduate professors?
-The math books for girls mentioned in the article are fascinating. You can find the first book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Math-Doesnt-Suck-Survive-Breaking/dp/0452289491/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
I'm not sure if I think the books are awesome or terrible. The Amazon reviews are mostly positive, although several of the negative reviews voice the issues I have with this style of book.
Tell me what you think in the comments!
updated:
On the issue of encouraging undergraduates to go to graduate school, I realized that I didn't make an explicit link in my original posting between encouraging undergrads to go to grad school and our organization (Supporting Women in Geography). I think that graduate students could have an important role in encouraging undergrads to pursue a graduate education. This is why I am excited about the joint Geography Graduate Student Association and SWIG effort to host a workshop on applying to grad school! This will be a great way to encourage undergrads and show them that grad school really is a viable life path for a diverse assortment of people (including women!).
When I was an undergrad, Dr. Ford encouraged me to go to grad school. There were others (including my parents) who were also supportive of the idea, but he was the one who seemed most genuinely disappointed when I made the choice to work rather than apply to programs immediately after graduating.
ReplyDeleteIt has taken a few years, but I did eventually find my way back! And with a much different perspective on my education than I had back then. Wish he were here to witness it.