Girls Do Science (+ oxford comma)

First a little comic about the Oxford Comma that I stumbled across and laughed.

Courtesy of shortee.tumblr.com

One day I'll take the time to explain the reasoning behind my blog title, but for now, onto the topic of Science. A bit of a different style of post this time.

I feel like it's been a while since I've had a post about Science in general so I'm going to take this Tuesday rainy morning as an opportunity to do so.

Stumbled across this video, and although it does turn out to be an advertisement, I think it sends out an important message.

A pretty long discussion now follows about Girls in Science. Mostly a mesh of my own thoughts and comments, and a few real life examples, as well as hopes for the future.

Although I do think that a lot more girls do science in today's modern society, I'm still witnessing a lot of people who seem to have this subconscious stereotyping when it comes to the STEM fields. I've seen more than a few friends hesitate when it comes to 'boy-dominated' fields simply because of the gender stereotype and ratio. Personally I think that's ridiculous.

[And funny coincidence, but I also found out today that the Australian Science Innovations are forming a new program for Girls in STEM (click the link), which is pretty exciting stuff.]

Some girls (not all, but some) are afraid of going into mathematics, engineering, actuarial studies, science, etc., simply because there's 'going to be a lot of males' in that subject. Why? Why are you afraid? It makes me so agitated and upset because they shouldn't be afraid.

So what if there are more males? Perhaps it comes down to biology of the brain, perhaps social influences -- who knows? A 'general trend' doesn't apply to everyone. That's beside the point. Just because you don't fit the 'norm' doesn't mean it's unacceptable. The point is that if you're good at something, you should do it. Don't let anything else stop you from that, whether that be your gender, whether that be stereotypes, whether that be the gender radio in that University course, whether that be society's stereotypes.

That's what really upsets me.

I know there are a lot of opportunities for girls in the STEM areas. There definitely is. But one thing that hasn't changed significantly is what a lot of the girls themselves actually think.

Of course, this doesn't apply to all people. I know a fair plenty amount of girls who have grown up without the 'fear' of entering STEM areas, and it makes me so, so proud. I was lucky enough to have a family that encouraged my interest for science and so my childhood was filled with chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and so on, but not everyone has the same situation.

What's the point of this post?

I guess I'm trying to make people realise that we often subconsciously stereotype. I only realised in the past year that whenever I imagined a 'doctor, engineer, mathematician, scientist' in my head, it was always a male figure. I only realised in the past year that when a girl said to me she was doing engineering I would look at her in surprise and say "Wow! That's impressive", whilst if a boy had said the same, I would treat it as normal ("Oh, cool!"). I only realised in the last year how detrimental these things can be, and how deeply these stereotypes had cut.

Often we don't even realise that what we say, think, or do, is harmful. I only realised in the last year because I'd been propelled into a lot of 'Women in Science' discussions and been put in the spotlight for it. That was the wake-up call that made me realise. Perhaps it was because I was never directly subject to this issue before. Perhaps it was my ignorance. Perhaps it was because the large majority of society also did the same. But someway or another, I had failed to notice the true impact of gender stereotyping, especially when it comes to this issue.

If there's one thing I didn't do in high-school that I regret, that would be picking physics as a subject elective. I should have, and unfortunately for the rest of my life I'll have to live with the shame of not choosing it because people told me "girls are usually bad at physics". It makes me sick to think about it, but I guess I can't really change what's in the past. All I can do is try and stop it from happening to anyone else.

A friend who was entering the STEM fields said to me a few weeks ago that she was 'afraid'. She kept complaining to me that there were 'so many guys' in her course and that it would be hard, and her parents were worried. Ever since that moment I've been holding this entire rant inside of my head because this shouldn't be happening. It's irrational, illogical, and uncalled for -- why should she be afraid just because she's female? Why is it that a girl doing STEM receives sympathy and condescending words for 'how hard it must be for her' whilst a boy can study engineering with no condolences at all?

This doesn't just apply for STEM. It applies for all gender stereotyped aspects of society, for all genders and all those in-between. Sometimes it's hard to face a society when my friends show hints of subconscious gender stereotypes and expectations (and the occasional sexism, too). Sometimes it gets really hard.

It upsets me greatly and I hope that in the future -- ten, twenty, thirty years time -- I'll tell my kids about the gender stereotypes 'back in my day' and they'll look at me in disbelief and shock because 'they can't believe society used to be like that'.

Perhaps one day.

Might have ranted a bit too long but I had to get it out there. Phew. Feels good.

Sorry for the word vomit. If I don't write it out here then I don't really have anywhere to store it all except inside of my head, and we all know that with exams coming up, I have to make more room!

Alright, peace out.