Said FSP's daughter's middle school Science teacher to FSP when he saw her in the corridor of the school:
Hey, it's the famous woman scientist.
I was taken aback at first, wondering why he used adjectives, one of which was strange and the other implied that scientist = man unless you specify otherwise (hence the somewhat cynical name for this blog). But then I figured out why he greeted me that way.
Later, this same science teacher asked me if I would come talk to his class in a month or two.
Great! I replied. But I thought you were done with the unit on My Science.
Oh.. ah.. yes. Actually, we are doing a unit on Diversity and so we need a .. a .. a..
Woman scientist?
Yes, exactly. The state expects us to do something on Diversity and I uh.. uh..
have no clue what to do and don't even know enough to ask this favor in a non-offensive way?
I didn't say that, but, actually, I don't have a clue either.
I have never talked about Diversity to a group of middle school kids before. I assume that I should talk about all types of diversity, not just gender. I would like to keep my overall message positive and talk about Science as a rewarding career, but perhaps we could also discuss stereotypes of scientists (strange white males). I'm going to have to give this a lot more thought.
Has anyone else given a talk on Diversity to middle schoolers? I could use some advice.
Hey, it's the famous woman scientist.
I was taken aback at first, wondering why he used adjectives, one of which was strange and the other implied that scientist = man unless you specify otherwise (hence the somewhat cynical name for this blog). But then I figured out why he greeted me that way.
Later, this same science teacher asked me if I would come talk to his class in a month or two.
Great! I replied. But I thought you were done with the unit on My Science.
Oh.. ah.. yes. Actually, we are doing a unit on Diversity and so we need a .. a .. a..
Woman scientist?
Yes, exactly. The state expects us to do something on Diversity and I uh.. uh..
have no clue what to do and don't even know enough to ask this favor in a non-offensive way?
I didn't say that, but, actually, I don't have a clue either.
I have never talked about Diversity to a group of middle school kids before. I assume that I should talk about all types of diversity, not just gender. I would like to keep my overall message positive and talk about Science as a rewarding career, but perhaps we could also discuss stereotypes of scientists (strange white males). I'm going to have to give this a lot more thought.
Has anyone else given a talk on Diversity to middle schoolers? I could use some advice.