Stereotypical Photo Sent Wrong Message to Girls

To the Editor:

A picture speaks a thousand words.

First we had to combat Lawrence Summers, Harvard University’s president, and now we have to combat Education Week. The photo captioned “Science Lesson” in your Oct. 26, 2005, issue perpetuates a very unfortunate stereotype: When faced with a science experiment, girls say, “Eek! Yuck!” What kind of message does that photo send?

See Also

Teaching Teachers of Color Are Linked to Social-Emotional, Academic Gains for All Students These effects are driven, at least in part, by the use of culturally responsive teaching, a new study suggests.

Girls do science experiments every day in classrooms all across the nation. Readers seeking the most recent research and ideas for encouraging girls in science, technology, engineering, and math should visit two Web sites: www.gemsclub.org and www.aauw.org.

Photos matter!

Elizabeth Vandenburg

Laura Reasoner Jones

Co-Directors

Tech Savvy Girls Video Project

American Association of

University Women

Reston-Herndon Area Branch

Reston, Va.