Well, I can think of one big reason girls might choose other fields. Despite being in a very strong, well-regarded and I feel mostly progressive school district, my DD, a senior this year, has discovered that the AP physics teacher treats the boys and girls very differently from each other. I won’t go into details here, but despite liking the subject matter and having a natural aptitude for it, she loathes the class. She has multiple girlfriends who have openly cried in class, and many of them have confided that this class experience has made them question or change their decisions to persue science in college. DD has challenged him in public, and has been referred to the counselor by him for rudeness (if you knew my DD this would be kind of shocking, I believe). The counselor basically told her it was her problem, not his, they have never had any other complaints, she needs to learn to modify her behavior or she will be in trouble in college, etc. She is compiling a folder she plans to share with the principal at the end of the year, but I secretly suspect it is futile. It seems to be an open secret among many parents, but this man is the only AP physics teacher, and he coaches several of the high-profile academic teams, so he is valuable to the administration.
It is similar, thought not as egregious, as this example recently described in the Washington Post (sorry, but I am having trouble posting a link- you can google Washington Post and “In a Prestigious High School Math and Science Program, Alumni say #MeToo”). The first paragraph says it all:
“Years after they left one of the nation’s premier high school programs in math and science, hundreds of alumni have come forward to support allegations that a celebrated Maryland teacher sexually harassed and demeaned female students.”
In our situation, there was no sexual harassment. But the demeaning attitude and behaviors are devastating, and far-reaching. I’m not claiming this is common, but I am still shocked that it happens at all (though I shouldn’t be) and that it is so difficult for the girls to be heard and listened to by anyone in the administration.
