I've been bothered about it for a while.
A few weeks ago, our school invited three speakers to talk to us about STEM, as part of our STEM week. We're a prestigious all-girls school, and we consist of the top-scorers of a nation-wide test.
Two of the speakers were women- one worked in a STEM- related industry while the other was from UN Women.
The third was a man, a successful scientist.
What bothered me was that the two women spoke to us as if we were under motivated, meek girls who needed to be inspired to pursue careers in STEM and rise up against male domination.
The man was the only one who spoke to us like we could already do it, like we were already ready and all we needed was exposure.
Throughout the talks, everyone had their heads down.
We felt uncomfortable.
Because if anything, we were more elitist (not a good thing either) than submissive and uninspired. Most of my friends planned to go into STEM careers. I have a friend who reads her brother’s calculus, chemistry, and physics notes and textbooks for fun. She has never once thought that she wouldn't go into a STEM career.
The women made it seem like we were anything but ready, even though they were trying to inspire us. Their wording made it sound as if we were not in STEM because of gender inequality, not because we didn't want to be.
I'm a humanities person and I genuinely have a passion for literature. Yet, there are no activities that I am encouraged to attend.
During STEM weeks, students can sign up for workshops like coding and animated card-making, or building websites for a start-up. We can also visit Google’s office and NEWater plants.
There is nothing of this sort for the humanities.
The women made it seem like we were anything but ready, even though they were trying to inspire us. Their wording made it sound as if we were not in STEM because of gender inequality, not because we didn't want to be.
I'm a humanities person and I genuinely have a passion for literature. Yet, there are no activities that I am encouraged to attend.
During STEM weeks, students can sign up for workshops like coding and animated card-making, or building websites for a start-up. We can also visit Google’s office and NEWater plants.
There is nothing of this sort for the humanities.