Within academic career there are three roles that are represented – the one of a tutor (teaching), the one of a negotiator (utilization with industry) and the role of a researcher (publishing and presenting new ideas and results). Throughout the scientific life, all the three roles are developed. In university the role that is mostly trained is that of a teacher which also comes with most of the direct responsibilities. In order to get promotion there are several pedagogical courses that needs to be taken. For my promotion to a position of associate professor I had to do two different studies – one with defined subject, while the other on a subject of choice. I have been so fascinated by how smart girls are in school and boys are always calmed that it’s the normal path and someway on the way boys take over and girls are in the shadow. Girls choose less technical disciplines which would be perfect for their knowledge from school and for their creativity. I later on understood that smart girls also leave education that they have started, the so-called leaking pipeline. At the same time I have always been fascinated by motivation – such a strong tool. When I feel motivated, I fly, I do not just move. So I want to make all the people around me to enjoy their flight. Thus, it became very natural for me to combine the two subjects in one – motivation for female students to repair the pipeline. The rest is history. I had to summarize 5 papers, I ended up with 55 and an increasing interest in the field. The text will be published but has first to be approved by my colleagues in pedagogy.
Here below you can see some of the main take-aways for me:
Take-aways from the survey:
- Girls have more “Eureka” moments in group rather than alone. Group activities in the courses can help increase the interest of the girls in the courses
- Group activities also take away from the “nerd” image that is so repellant for girls. “Nerd” in many questionnaires is defined as an ugly, lonely person with no social interests. Girls are raised to be social and communicative and to value families, which is why the “nerd” image contradicts with the image they have been grown with
- The social side of female students plays also a role in the professions that can be achieved through a certain education. In this sense the engineering disciplines result usually in professions oriented towards technologies and techniques (things) which is not attractive for the female students. Description of the social side and human side of the engineering is therefore a key-components to enhance motivation in female students. In principle female students want to help others and save the world, something that their male colleagues do not understand
- Female students have low self-concept when it comes to mathematics even though on tests they perform as good as male students. Thus, there is a need to enhance the self-concept by engaging girls in group activities where their knowledge can be confirmed by the group
- Female students are in need of role models that can show them that new goals, that something is possible and also the path that this possible thing is also doable. When no celebrity role models are available historically, role models that are known by the students are of crucial importance.
- Known role models need to show how the life’s puzzles are put together so that girls do not feel that family and career do not go hand in hand, which is the traditional myth
