Alice Wilson and Jocelyn Legault examine a fossil imprint
(1962). |
Similarly, we may wish to ask what is and is not science. The
masculine identity of "hard" science has been rigorously maintained by
designating female-dominated occupations like nursing, whose practitioners
claim scientific expertise as the basis of their collective professional
identity, as "soft" forms of pseudo-Science.
By organizing our discussion of women and science around an
uncritical acceptance of the male discourse of professionalization, we risk the
perpetuation of women's status as other within science in particular and, as in
the case of nursing, within society as a whole. Nevertheless, as points of
departure for discussion and research, both in the classroom and among
scholars, the essays collected by Ainley in Despite the Odds: should
fulfill their role eminently.
Bev Boutilier is currently
pursuing her Ph.D. in History at Carleton University in Ottawa. Her .thesis
focuses on the work of the Victorian Order of Nurses.
They're Not Dumb,
They're Different Stalking the Second Tier
Review by Rachelle Sender
Beauchamp
I was
certainly not given the belief that I could give something to science and that
it could give something back to me.
Student quoted by Sheila Tobias in They're Not Dumb, They're
Different (1). |
|
Most report negative reactions: as compared with
arts courses, they find their fellow students extremely competitive (interested
only in the marks of others). Faculty pays little or no attention to the larger
significance of the material studied, focusing almost exclusively on the
nitty-gritty of problem solving.
Although this book does not specifically address
gender issues in science teaching, many of the points made have also been
raised by advocates of feminist pedagogy. Tobias provides many concrete
suggestions for ways to improve science teaching, including smaller classes,
ongoing support to science students by trained "science advisors"; exit
interviews with science dropouts; and changes in grading practices (i.e.,
elimination of 'curved' grading schemes).
Rachelle Sender
Beauchamp is a Guest Editor of this issue of Women's Education des
femmes. |
|
by Sheila Tobias Tucson, Arizona; Research Corporation,
1990
How to attract more students to study science? In this
fascinating study, Tobias arranged for a group of very bright non-science
graduate students to audit introductory university chemistry and physics
courses and to keep journals chronicling their reactions to the work, the
teaching styles and the other students. |
|