BAND: Reading for a Cause

BAND — Bloggers’ Alliance of Nonfiction Devotees — is a group organized to promote the joy of reading nonfiction. We are “advocates for nonfiction as a non-chore,” and we want you to join us. Each month, a member of BAND hosts a discussion on their blog related to nonfiction. 

The host for November’s BAND discussion is Amanda (Opinions of a Wolf) who writes about her tendency to read books related to specific social causes. She asks:

Do you read nonfiction to help support a cause(s)?

I do not often choose my nonfiction reads by cause. But I have been WANTING to collect titles on a subject dear to me. I have yet to work actively on this endeavor. In fact, I just went to my goodreads tbr to see what I had so far and realized I never created a category*. SO this post is just what I need to jump start and/or define that motivation.

My cause is the support and encouragement of women in STEM careers.

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

First off, I would LOVE to have anyone – male and female – cease and desist saying such things like “I’m not good at math.” Stop saying this!  and NEVER EVER SAY it around children.  People say it like it is a badge of honor and you should all be ashamed of yourselves.   *GLARE*

Second, buy this book:  Math Curse  by Jon Scieszka.   So darn CUTE and adorable.  ~4th grade humor? Loved this kids book.

Third, biographies. I want the one on Ada Lovelace. I’m taking suggestions, please let me know of any awesome women in technology I should know more about. Searching Ada Lovelace – I find many MANY books written about her and I only became aware of her from blogging**. Shameful! It’s possible that I *did* know of her once and just forgot. These things happen.

I have read many terrific nonfiction books that could be classified STEM but they weren’t specific exclusive to my theme here. I did read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – this might count as a fascinating STEM book for this topic. My favorite part of this book is when Rebecca Skloot mentions she hated school until she heard about HeLa cells in science class.  Thus she begins her odyssey of chasing the Lacks’ story.

But would it fit into the ‘CAUSE’ category? I am not sure.

Fourth, the ONE book I did find that I have read that touches on this cause is They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different and it was an academic treatise full of statistics from 1990 about how to keep students (not gender specific) from dropping out of and/or changing their majors from the sciences. See my previous post, also from today.

Clearly, I need a focus and some dedicated time to work on this.  I thank the BAND for giving me this little kick.

* I have collected many twitter friends who subscribe to this cause – now I just need to solicit book titles.

** I included a link to Nymeth’s blog and her post on Women in Science to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day.  Or click the underlined part a few words back.

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Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

They’re Not Dumb…

(reposted from last year, almost to the week.)

They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different:  Stalking the Second Tier, “An OccasionalPaper on Neglected Problems in Science Education”  by Sheila Tobias, Research Corporation 1990

Back of the book blurb:   They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different is a study to determine why students abandon science for other disciplines.

Whatever possessed me to purchase this (for a dime) at a library sale in southeastern Nebraska?  Well, the fact that perhaps I was not a good candidate for the degree program in college that I signed up for.  Hmmmm. Engineering wasn’t easy but I stuck with it. Matter of pride, of economics, of belief that I was ‘smart enough’; but that doesn’t mean I found a good fit.

This booklet describes a study of placing students into pre-engineering and science classes to find out why they would or would not MAJOR in these programs. I found it quite interesting. It also stirred up memories of people I met as a freshman and why people chose to major in engineering. I recall a girl who had a generous one-year full scholarship to the College of Engineering who fully intended to take the money and then switch to Business since she couldn’t qualify for any dollars from that college! There was less competition for scholarships for women to study engineering. She knew she was ‘smart enough’ to get an engineering degree but it was ‘boring’.

I also thought this book would address how we can encourage more women to study for traditionally male careers. It touched on it some but its focus was not gender-based.

Anyhoo, what I got out of it was that Engineering schools have (had?) no interest in wooing over anyone who ‘might’ be interested in sciences. They prefer to scare new students and allow that only the tough should survive. So if ‘kids’ abandon these programs, are they stupid or was it the educational style? Who says there is a shortage of engineers, anyway? Supply and demand – if fewer engineers are graduated, than starting salaries remain high. What’s the problem? No problem.

Thus, professors need not concern themselves with being excellent EDUCATORS and students only just need to study hard and really want to be scientists and engineers. All those who pass through this system subscribe to it, endure it and perpetuate it.  Thus, we breed ‘typical’ engineers;  the stereotypes fit. Smart kids who could do well if they had classes that appealed to their personalities or styles of learning are not being encouraged and thus miss out on what could be an excellent career choice. Or not.

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to know much about whether or not this is still a problem nor if any schools addressed the idea of reform pertinent to the results of this study. The document was published 2o+ years ago.  I found the study interesting, nonetheless. And it was no help in my quest to grow up and figure out what I want to do with myself for the rest of my life. I have a pretty good gig* right now , but I feel like I should ‘do’ something more…

* ’keeping the house’, caring for and training the dogs, volunteering, reading & book-blogging, practising yoga, tutoring in math, and occasionally substitute teaching…   I am very thankful for my life and appreciate all that I have.  Happy Thanksgiving!

HIdeinWhitetoSkipLine

Copyright © 2010/2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.