If the goal of an engineering camp at Kettering University is to get high school girls interested in mathand science-related careers, let there be no doubt that Lauryn Watkoske is interested.
On this July afternoon, she sewed up a 1-inch cut in a hot dog that she could see only by watching a video camera, an exercise that simulated robotically assisted surgery and tested her hand-eye coordination.
"I used to like building things when I was little, but I never expected Robotics (机械人学), something so stereotypically (带有成见地) male, to be exciting," says Lauryn.
That’s encouraging news for people who are concerned about a persistent gender gap in college degrees in science, technology, engineering and math-STEM, for short. The notion that it might have to do with talent has long been dismissed. Yet research shows that girls who enjoy-and excel at-math and science in high school are less likely than boys to pursue a college major in those fields.
And even if they start college majoring in a STEM field, women are more likely than men to change majors, federal data show. Women make up 24% of STEM jobs, which offers some of the most profitable careers, a Commerce Department report says.
Some critics focusing on gender parity (对等) say the concern is overblown. "There may be something about mathand science-related fields that are just less interesting to most women," says Hoff Sommers, editor of The Science on Women and Science, in which several contributors argue that biology is a factor. "No one is saying they’re not as talented, but they have different aspirations."
A number of colleges that specialize in these fields have recently taken steps to increase female enrollment and are seeing results.
This spring, Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass, graduated 247 women, its largest number of women ever, representing 30 % of its graduating class. The percentage of women at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif, who graduate with a computer science degree jumped from an average 12% in recent years to more than 26% in 2010, 43% in 2011 and 38% this year.
The schools’ strategies vary, but a key component is to create opportunities for women to apply their talents and skills to matters that appeal to them. Harvey Mudd College, for example, checked up a required introductory computer science course to allow students more choice in how they apply principles being covered.
"Many of the guys would be just as happy in a class that focused exclusively on video games and robots," says Department Chair Ran Libeskind-Hadas. For women, "seeing the applications of computing to society is really important, and seeing applications of computing to things they use in their day-to-day lives is important. That includes things like, how does Google Maps work, or how does a music recommendation system work. \
What do we learn about Lauryn Watkoske