Despite having interest in mathematics, many female students at Ohio University find themselves teaching the subjects, instead of entering those fields.
Of the 103 Ohio University undergraduates studying math, 36 are female, but so are 290 of the 457 students in the College of Education who want to become math teachers.
Ohio University senior Sarah Ehlen is studying education and integrated mathematics and hopes to teach secondary math in the future.
Ehlen said she has a passion for education, but didn't always know if that was something she wanted to pursue.
I thought about going into engineering ... but my dad really scared me out of it. He told me over 95 percent of engineers were guys
and that intimidated me. ... I guess I'm much more of a people person anyway. Teaching suits me she said.
Last month, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released a study, Why so Few? that attempted to explain why women are not better represented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
According to the study
when women were told before a test that females do not perform well in math
they did not perform as well as men. The study showed that when women were told males and females performed equally
they had scores similar to those of males.
Christianne Corbett
a researcher and contributor to Why so Few? said that women are more likely to go into fields that already have many women.
When people see other people like them in career fields, they're more likely to feel comfortable pursuing a future there. You see a lot of female teachers, but a female computer engineer? That's rare, she said.
Corbett attributed the disproportionate sexes in STEM fields to several factors
including unconscious bias.
It's hard to point out overt discrimination these days, but it's there on an unconscious level... that goes with everyone - employers, teachers - that can affect girls and how girls then see themselves and their potential to succeed, she said.
Jeffery Connor
chair of the math department
attributes the high number of female math-education majors to tradition.
What it comes down to is that teaching is a historically female choice, he said.
Connor said that although no specific program is currently in place to attract female math majors
he could say from personal experience that he has seen more females in the math department in more recent years.
I've seen more and more women on an undergraduate and graduate level. ... We really try and be supportive of everyone, he said.
,",3,Culture,Callie Driehorst,31277a.jpg,Sarah Ehlen studies in Morton Hall where many math classes are held. She hopes that one day she can work for Teach for America
