Modeling a positive future for all genders

Most of the women I knew when I was growing up in a rural community in the ’70s and ’80s worked in retail or food service, were stay-at-home moms and wives, or were nurses or teachers. It was a big deal to me when a woman veterinarian moved to the area, and I did, for a time, think I wanted to be a vet like her.

Of course, I saw women journalists, lawyers, athletes, and astronauts on TV, and I vividly remember when Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman on the Supreme Court. But it was hard for me to see a path to these jobs. I could wrap my head around becoming a teacher, so that’s the path I chose.

In this month’s Kappan, Tim Spitsberg and Jonathan Plucker suggest that efforts similar to those used to get girls interested in STEM fields might be helpful to encourage boys to pursue the humanities. Boys, just like girls, need role models. And role modeling involves more than just presenting examples in the media, as helpful as that may be. When I was a little girl, I knew lots of options existed for women, but I wasn’t sure how real those options were for girls like me, from communities like mine. It’s important to have role models from your own community. It’s easier to find a path when there’s someone to follow.