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FEMINIST TEACHER
Abstracts for Volume 13.3 home | editors | contact | submissions | books to review | subscribe | current issue | forthcoming issue | past issues | our book
"Sexual Discrimination and Women’s
Retention Rates in Science and Engineering
Programs" Despite some evidence that women entering science, mathematics and engineering have higher average ACT and SAT test scores, women’s persistence rates remain considerable lower than their male peers. Persistence rates, in turn, are correlated with low science grades during the first two years of undergraduate study. This finding, in turn, begs the question of what causes such a decrease in science ability among talented young women during their freshman and sophomore years, women who tend not to drop out of college, but to switch majors. Since scholastic ability does not predict attrition, research is needed to discover what it is about the experience of science education that might cause talented young women to question their ability to succeed and their desire to remain in science. This paper, which focuses on undergraduate and graduate women’s experiences in science and engineering programs, reveals that sexual discrimination continues to be a significant problem in science education, a problem that is often underestimated because of a variety of cultural myths. It asserts that initiatives to increase the numbers of women in science and engineering, which fail to address this problem, will not realize their desired outcomes. "Mutating 'Virology': How Far to
Feminist?" This article describes the changes Lederman made in her Virology course from a standard lecture format, which did not engage the students, to a format which integrated social constructivist principles of educational theory, where learning is a co-construction of all involved. She also discusses changes in practical facilitation of this class such as web-assistance, real-life work-related integration, and restructuring class meetings. The author presents this discussion as a case study of feminist pedagogy for the life sciences. "Rewriting Gendered Scripts: Using
Forum Theatre to Teach Feminist Agency" Reflecting on her experiences as a feminist teacher, Himani Bannerji observed that "feminism ideally rests on a transformative cognitive approach, which validates subjectivity and direct agency". Finding ways not just to validate, but to activate direct agency is a critical goal of feminist pedagogy. In this article, the authors share a teaching tool that is unique in its ability to engage students powerfully and to sharpen their abilities to generate and enact changes in oppressive gendered scripts. The teaching tool is forum theatre, and the authors explain in detail how it contributes to feminist pedagogy's transformative power by empowering students to be agents. "'Women's Lib,' Gender Theory, and the
Politics of Home: How I Became a Black Male Feminist" This essay uses autobiography and textual analysis to describe how feminist ideologies have influenced my family life, teaching, and scholarship. The essay describes both an “organic” feminism that emerges from the everyday work of black women within their families and in larger communities, and formal articulations of feminist ideology by June Jordan, Adrienne Rich, and Mahasweta Devi, among others. Reflecting on the feminist influence on my upbringing and professional work, I suggest that both organic and formal discourses of feminism were necessary for me to develop an awareness of how sex-gender systems function and to discover the effects of male privilege in everyday relationships with women and in my teaching and scholarship. "Surveying Feminist Pedagogy: A Measurement, an
Evaluation, and an Affirmation" When feminist pedagogy is practiced in the classroom, what are the consequences--both in the classroom and in the career of the academic? The authors conducted a survey of twenty-one items judged to be essential to feminist pedagogical practices in regards to both teaching behaviors and student behaviors. The survey was administered to post-secondary faculty in the United States via LISTSERV postings. The questions asked, for example, whether instructors encourage class discussion, get feedback from students about course materials and exams, and foster community among class members. Questions focusing on student behavior included whether students shared personal experiences in class discussions or assignments, participated in class discussions, interrupted each other or the instructor, or challenged the instructor in any way. Participants responded to questions on a scale from always to never. The authors present and discuss the results of almost 200 survey responses. |