Teenage Mentors Open Door to Science for Younger Girls

Men outnumber women in science and engineering today, and, judging from the numbers of students obtaining advanced degrees, the imbalance shows little sign of reversal. According to statistics published by the National Science Foundation (NSF), American universities awarded 5,265 engineering PhDs in 2003, a whopping 83 percent of which were awarded to men. The disparity is less dramatic in the sciences--57 percent of science doctorates earned in U.S. universities in 2003 went to men--but women remain outnumbered in many scientific fields.

How can schools encourage more girls to study science and, perhaps, consider careers in math, science and engineering?

Researchers at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton have an idea, one that involves elementary and high school girls. The key, it seems, is to put the two groups together.

In 2002, with support from the NSF Division of Human Resource Development, UNT education professor Tandra Tyler-Wood launched a science-themed, after-school program for girls in the local school district. Years of curriculum design experience told her that a hands-on, active approach kindles students' natural curiosity. Adding an element of teamwork, she guessed, would be a fun way to boost self-confidence and creativity.

In the program's first year, Tyler-Wood matched 30 fourth- and fifth-grade girls with teenage mentors recruited from the Texas Academy for Mathematics and Science (TAMS), a residential program that gives talented high school girls an opportunity to simultaneously earn their high school diplomas and finish two years of college at UNT. Each TAMS student received a small stipend for participating in the program.

Meeting throughout the year on Tuesday afternoons, the student pairs explored the scientific method through a series of hands-on experiments in an outdoor laboratory. The goal, Tyler-Wood says, was to improve the younger girls' critical thinking skills but also to hold their interest. She knew it was an ambitious task.

Together, the students explored the properties of soil, the oceans and the sun. They identified the physical properties of matter, learned how organisms survive and adapt, and studied magnetism and conductivity. To learn about ecology and animal life cycles, they raised colonies of meal worms and formed hypotheses about their behavior.

Tyler-Wood dubbed the project BUGS, or Bringing Up Girls in Science. The girls became fast friends, and the TAMS students' natural enthusiasm for science proved contagious.

"When I was in elementary school, all we ever did after school was arts and crafts and sports. I'd never heard of girls getting together to learn about science," said Tracy, a high school student who became a TAMS mentor. "I decided to get [my BUGS mentee] started off asking questions, so maybe she'll go on asking questions and learning why some things work."

At the end of the year, the mentoring teams presented the results of their work to parents, teachers and friends. The program concluded with a two-week "capstone" experience at a local environmental education center, giving the girls a chance to conduct experiments in the field and take part in environmental awareness programs.