Agreed. The vast majority of teachers are female, and being raised without a father is much more common than being raised without a mother. So it seems to me that the opportunity for girls to have a significant relationship with a positive same-sex role model is significantly greater than the opportunity for boys.
I've re-read this comment several times and just can't get past the assumption that single moms and teachers are enough for girls and that viewing women in other powerful roles of leadership and in technology is not necessary or needed. I honestly cannot believe you think that and am now wondering if such posits as these are simply to stoke the fire.
Did you miss the context of my statement? It was a comment on this:
The best sort of mentoring and the best role models would be born out of already existing relationships:. Teachers, parents, interested professionals. I think we all agree that these relationships can have great impacts on people's lives.
This does not appear to be restricted in scope to STEM topics. With so many people lamenting the lack of positive same-sex role models for girls in one particular sector of industry, I felt compelled to point out that boys are at an even greater risk for being without significant interaction with positive same-sex role models in their lives. I did not mean to imply as you inferred that "viewing women in other powerful roles of leadership and in technology is not necessary or needed." However, it's clear to me that since finding success in STEM fields requires solid basic education, anyone who benefits from a mentor or role model who pushes them to obtain those basics finds themselves in a better position to pursue STEM fields than someone who does not.
Speaking generally about the topic now:
There are a lot of things that affect what children expect from themselves. I think the biggest contributor is what their parents expect from them. My daughter is 3, and I'm already convinced that she has great potential. Thus I will have high expectations for her, and hope to influence her to have high expectations for herself. There are many factors that contribute to children of both sexes lowering their expectations. They can be lazy. They can desire to fit in with their peers in a general sense. They can desire to spend time with particular individuals incapable of pursuing (or unwilling to pursue) intellectual topics at a challenging level. I don't think that anti-intellectualism hits girls any harder than it hits boys, but that has no bearing on my objection to this program.
In case anyone has come to the wrong conclusion: I am all for NASA employees mentoring middle school girls, and doing so in the most effective way possible, which probably necessitates trying to pair girls with female mentors. I can easily see myself trying to take advantage of such a program in a few years. If anyone tries to imply that I'm against this, then they are out of their minds, and I wont be responding to them.
My objection is solely to the fact that this program has been set up to cater exclusively to girls. While I'm excited about the positive effects that mentorship in STEM fields can have on girls, I'm also excited about the positive effects it can have on boys. I don't lament a missed opportunity for a girl any more than I lament a missed opportunity for a boy.
