Project by: Jemma Fox (11th Grade), Olivia Propp (11th Grade)
Project Advisor: Kelly O’Shea
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Catherine and Daniel

Description of the Project:

We want to learn about how co-ed learning plays a part in the way students learn, specifically in girls. We know that many of our friends who identify as female sometimes feel more stressed in a classroom environment with more boys, and we want to learn more about why that is, and other ways that gender affects the way that we learn. 

Final Product (e.g., documents, images, video, audio, poster, display, etc.):

Final Reflection on Learning:

Statistically, women are underrepresented in the field of STEM professions, while men make up the majority of STEM professionals. It was interesting to see how this cycle can begin from a young age, as many girls want to become more well rounded students while many boys are primarily interested in succeeding in their STEM classes. Due to the fact that society encourages boys more to take leadership roles and focus more on STEM work, oftentimes girls feel like they would be better off pursuing a career in a different field. If we were to understand the culture of the classrooms, and the way that different genders take on roles, we will be able to change the system where all genders can work in a co-functioning environment that allows them to express their voices and opinions. It is up to our students and our teachers to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and heard within our STEM classes, so that more females will be represented in the STEM field for generations to come.

Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):

We met with Kelly’s friend Marta R. Stoeckel who is studying for her Ph.D. and currently researching learning and gender in a classroom studying STEM. She was able to give us insight on our topic and give us a few resources and journal articles we can read which we are now beginning to study.

Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):

We’ve been reading academic papers on how middle school aged children learn in a science classroom and how different genders interact with each other while doing an experiment. In the paper, four students, two girls and two boys, were observed while they were working on an experiment together. In the analysis, the boys in general were more vocal about their opinions even if they weren’t right. The girls on the other hand tended to stay more quiet as most of the time their ideas were dismissed by their boy peers. Although they had important things to say, the mix of gender seemed to make the girls feel more uneasy which affected the way they acted. Similarly in another paper, another four students from another school were observed, two were boys and two were girls. Especially in this experiment, the boys had dominant power in the group and would constantly ignore the girls’ ideas. They would do most of the hands on work, while the girls recorded the experiment and kept track of the data. While reading short interactions between the four, it was clear that the girls were in an uncomfortable environment where their voices weren’t welcome.

The second academic paper we read similarly examined the ways boys and girls interact and learn in a physics classroom. It put a strong emphasis on the idea that girls work very hard to fit the “good student persona,” by taking an advanced science class or working to get straight As in the class, but in contrast most boys in the class are more interested in engaging with the actual science. In result, many of the boys were more able to understand the science as many girls were only taking it with the intention of getting a good grade and putting it on a college application. Because many girls are simply engaging with STEM for the sake of a grade, they are also spending a lot of time engaging with Humanities subjects, and are less likely to pursue STEM as a career further perpetuating the under representation of women in STEM.

Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):

Originally, we were going to focus on coed classrooms as a whole, but ultimately because of the resources both Kelly and Marta provided, we narrowed our area of study to small groups in middle school STEM classrooms. This was very informative and interesting as there is already a mainstream discussion on female’s participation in STEM. We ultimately learned that in general in a co-ed STEM classroom, behaviors do differ but overall girls’ tend to shy away from leading, and take on the role of a bookkeeper, while boys did more of the hands on work. Though it is also important to note that this is an intersectional issue, and it can also differ depending on a student’s race, gender identity, sexual orientation or other factors of their identity.