EXPANDING SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR

DISADVANTAGED HIGH SCHOOL FEMALES

Dr. Margaret Phelps, Director

Cumberland Career Equity Center

Tennessee Technological University

Cookeville, TN

The Tennessee Tech "Girls Program" began in the fall of 1988 with support

from the Carl Perkins Vocational Education Program Gender Equity Set-Aside

Funds administered by the Tennessee Department of Education Division of

Vocational Education. In 1991, the Girls Program was integrated into a

newly established Cumberland Career Equity Center that provides expanded

gender equity services to schools. In addition to the Girls Program, the

Center hosts job shadowing for high school students, career days for middle

school students, classroom presentations on a variety of gender and career

issues, equity staff development for teachers, and a lending library of

equity and career materials. The Girls Program has been refunded annually,

under a variety of names, through June 30, 1999, at which time it will be

discontinued due to a change in the Perkins legislation. However, as the

staff reflects on the experiences of the past eleven years, we know that we

made a difference in the lives of many young women and would like to share

with others what we learned.

Program Description

The "Girls Program" consists of three residential camps each year--one week

in the summer, one weekend in the fall, and one weekend in the spring --

and variety of informal contacts with participants throughout the year.

Camps are built around classes in several science areas, mathematics or

mathematics applications, writing, the arts, and personal development.

Instructors are selected from the University faculty and surrounding

school systems. All classes are hands-on with maximum student involvement

and go beyond the standard high school curriculum. With a few exceptions,

classes are conducted on the TTU campus in the classrooms and laboratories

where those disciplines are regularly taught. The girls learn to use the

library and the resources of the computer center. Highlights of the year

include a one-day field trip in the summer and at least one trip to see a

live theatrical production. Housing is provided in TTU dormitories in the

summer and at a nearby state park on the weekends. Meals are a combination

of TTU cafeteria meals, fast food, special meal functions arranged by the

staff, and serve- yourself breakfast. Followup studies are conducted of

girls who complete the camp sequence. Girls who choose to enroll at TTU

are provided informal support and encouragement including a luncheon each

semester attended by the girls, the staff, and university administrators.

The luncheon is an excellent sharing opportunity.

Funding Considerations

The funding cycle began each year on July 1 and ended on June 30. In the

early years, we held the summer camp in early June but soon learned that

conducting the most costly event of the fiscal year within three weeks of

the end of the contract was too difficult to continue. Over the past few

years the cost of the summer camp averaged $500 per girl; weekends cost

$300 per girl. The biggest variable is housing costs. The other major

costs are staff and a chartered bus for the summer field trip.

TTU currently has a proposal under review in Washington for an Upward

Bound Science and Mathematics Program that would include many of the

components of the Girls Program and expand it to serve boys also. If that

application is not successful, then we will begin to look for other

possible funding sources.

Staffing

The program has been directed by the TTU Director of Rural Education, a

public service and research unit in the College of Education. Originally,

the chair of the TTU Department of Chemistry co-directed the program. When

he relocated, another chemistry faculty member was named co-director.

Until the Equity Center was established, all staff members were part-time.

The Equity Center was able to employ a full-time secretary and a full-time

program coordinator. Those two positions allowed us to engage in

long-range planning and build continuity into programming. However, the

insecurities of the positions have led to turnover in the secretary's

position and caused the coordinator to accept a job with a public school

system. Currently we have a secretary that has been in place for about

eight months. Unable to locate a suitable replacement coordinator, I have

assumed most the coordinator's duties for the past four years. Two young

teachers who had been camp counselors during their college/graduate school

days have assumed leadership and supervisory responsibility for the girls

program.

Currently the staff consists of:

The Rural Education Director (part-time) who administers the program

The Co-Director (part-time) from the Department of Chemistry who maintains

the Center Web Page, assists in planning, and provides logistical support

through his department

The full-time secretary who reserves transportation and lodging; arranges

for food; pays the bills; prepares the camp newsletter; corresponds with

the girls between camps; runs the lending library; provides scheduling and

support services for the staff development and classroom presentations; and

does whatever else has to be done to keep thing going

A graduate student who provides support services and doubles as camp

counselor and writing instructor

A part-time person who conducts classroom presentations and gender equity

workshops and has served as a role model for the girls program

The two Girls Program Coordinators who work with the director to plan the

camps and provide 24 hours a day supervision for the camps

Two camp counselors who assist in planning the camps and are with the girls

24 hours a day during camps

A core of university and high school faculty who regularly teach during the

camps

In addition, professional people from the university and community serve as

instructors and role models as needed

Recruitment of Participants

Originally, girls were admitted to the program during their freshman year.

More recently, we are admitting girls as early as the fall of their eighth

grade year. Once admitted, a girl may remain in the program until she

graduates from high school. By the spring of the junior year, attendance

becomes much more difficult with college entrance testing, extracurricular

activities, and work. Many employers will not allow the girls to change

their schedules in order to attend. Of course, some girls come once or

twice and choose not to return. Most continue to come until they

experience a scheduling conflict.

Contact persons in the high schools recruited participating girls. These

contact persons are usually science or math teachers or guidance

counselors. All but one has been female. These contacts are alert in

recognizing girls who would benefit from the program and frequently call to

see if the program can "make room" for someone else. When openings occur,

these contact persons will invite girls, talk with their parents, and see

that transportation is available. In addition, the co-director of the

program is frequently in the high schools observing preservice science

teachers. She identified several girls in those schools and recruited them

into the program. Since the TTU service area has a small minority

population, the project directors have made contacts with educators in the

three urban areas within 100 miles of the campus. Those contacts were

successful in recruiting a small number of minority participants.

The project director requests that the contact persons recommend girls that

have academic promise in math or science and who have some barrier to

reaching their academic potential. Frequent barriers are poverty, family

problems, low parental expectations, changes of school, or limited

educational opportunities. The first year of the program, we admitted a

high school senior who was later named valedictorian of her senior class.

Her rural high school did not have a science laboratory. She had never

seen a microscope until she came to camp. The program occasionally admits a

few girls from good high schools who are not disadvantaged but whose needs

are not being met in their high school program. For approximately eight

years, the program allotted two spaces to girls identified by the gifted

education coordinator in an affluent suburban school district. She found

the Girls Program to be superior to anything else she had found to enrich

the school's instruction. Those girls, each of whom was from an affluent

home, were a unique addition to the program. They shared with the other

girls their adventures in Europe while the rural girls explained the

difference between a gully and a holler.

The typical program participant is a potential first generation college

graduate from a blue-collar family. Several live with a single parent, a

foster parent, or a grandparent. They are rarely the class superlatives.

Following high school graduation they enroll at TTU, another state

university, or in a community college with plans to transfer to a

university after two years. About half of the girls who stay in the

program until graduation enter college with a declared major in some

science-related field.

At any time, we will have about 50 girls in the active files. For any

given camp, attendance averages 24 - 34.

The Curriculum

The following classes have formed the basis of the camp curriculum.

Chemistry--Four days during the summer camps and Friday evening during the

weekend camps, participants attend a 1.5 - 2 hour chemistry class taught by

a young female member of the TTU Chemistry Department. After a pre-lab

lecture/ discussion/question session, the girls go to the lab where they

don their goggles and working individually or in pairs they perform an

experiment, collect and analyze data, and summarize results. The summer

classes are usually designed around a theme with related investigations.

Physics--Four days during the summer camps (unless the professor is out of

the country doing research) and Sunday morning during the weekend camps,

participants attend a 1 hours physics class taught by a male member of the

TTU Physics Department who is originally from England. The professor is

the co-director of a NSF funded project to train physical science teachers

in the constructivist approach to teaching. He uses that approach with the

girls. He chooses his topics based on the topics being taught in his

university classes to utilize lab set-ups already in place. Consequently,

the girls are doing variations of physics investigations designed for

college students. One summer when the professor was not available, we

substituted astronomy which is taught by another member of the TTU Physics

Department.

Anatomy and Physiology--An outstanding high school biology teacher spends

8-10 hours each summer directing dissections. We do a rotation of sharks,

cats, fetal pigs, and chick embryos so that over four summers, a

participant gets to do all four. In the early years, we had a few girls

who objected to the experience so we had to provide alternate activities.

Now we announce the dissection activity in the first camp notice and ask

girls who have objections not to attend camp. We do provide latex gloves

for the girls who want to use them. To keep from having to look at the

faces of the cats, the girls create masks for them.

Microbiology--One of the camp counselors has a masters degree in

microbiology. At least once a year she teaches a micro class. One summer,

we collected iced tea samples all over town for the class to use in

analyzing bacteria content.

Ecology--Once a year a TTU biology faculty member, a high school biology

teacher, or a state park naturalist conducts an outdoor ecology session.

Mathematics--This has been the most frustrating class to develop and staff.

Since mathematics is largely sequential and the girls' math backgrounds

range from pre-algebra to calculus, finding a topic that all can be

challenged by and achieve success in is difficult. Also, we have not been

able to identify a math instructor who is willing to work the schedule to

whom the girls relate well. For the past two years, science instructors

have been asked to integrate math into each of their lessons and the camp

co-director who has been a high school math teacher has designed a few math

lessons.

Writing--The writing skills of most of the girls are very weak. During the

summer camp, each girl is assigned an individual library research topic to

be completed by the end of camp. One evening is spent in the university

library teaching the new girls how to use library's print and electronic

resources and helping them find suitable references. One other evening is

usually devoted to additional library research. The last day of camp, the

students type and print their papers at the computer center. Each weekend

camp includes a writing session related to some camp activity. At the most

recent camp during which the girls were going to see Foxfire at the

Cumberland County Playhouse, the prewriting activity was a discussion of

the Foxfire books and the role of storytelling in oral history. The girls

then each wrote a family story. Other writing topics have included poetry

and personal development topics.

Literature--Frequently the spring camp has coincided with the annual

Literature Conference for teachers and parents held on the TTU campus.

When that happens, the girls receive a copy of one of the guest author's

books prior to the camp, engage in a discussion of the book during the

camp, and then have a private session with the author to talk about the

writing process and have their books autographed.

Visual Arts--Artistic expression is an important component of any

educational program. Each summer camp begins with an evening of visual

arts integrated with drama, literature, or music. It is an excellent

ice-breaker as the girls work together sharing supplies and ideas. Weekend

visual arts activities have included painting tee shirts, doing drawing to

accompany writing activities, creating costumes, and making jewelry.

Personal Development--The girls we serve are confronted daily with

difficult personal decisions. Through informal contact, late night chats,

and programming, we attempt to provide them with the information they need

to make mature decisions. The first message is always YOU ARE SPECIAL; YOU

CAN BE/DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE/DO. With the small group of girls, we can

speak openly about issues such as sexual harassment, sexually transmitted

diseases, drugs, teen pregnancy, abuse, and date rape. Other less sensitive

but no less important issues are personal development sessions on selecting

a college and a major, financial aid, personal finance, and self-defense

for women.

Exploration and Enrichment--One day each summer is devoted to a field trip.

Various locations are rotated so that over four years no site is repeated.

Recent trips have taken us to Chattanooga (Aquarium, IMAX, Nature Center,

Fall Creek Falls); Oak Ridge and Norris (Oak Ridge National Laboratory,

Atomic Museum, Museum of Appalachia); Nashville (Meharry Medical College,

Belle Meade Mansion, Nashville Zoo); and the Upper Cumberland (Rugby, Alvin

York Historical Sites). Each field trip is preceded by an orientation

session providing background on the sites to be visited. Efforts are made

to have the tours led by female professionals who will talk with the girls

about their jobs, the required educational preparation, and how they chose

the particular field. Some things that we do "just for fun" are also

learning experiences for girls who haven't done them before or are rich

opportunities for discussion among campers and with the staff. Some of

these activities have included an evening of pizza, swimming, and ice cream

at a rented pool; line dancing at Cotton Eyed Joe's (on family night); a

cookout, games, and a role model presentation at the director's home during

the summer camp; and folk dancing.

Selection of Instructors

For the regular classes listed above, we select the most effective

instructors we can find while being sensitive to issues of diversity. If

the choice is between a male and a female who would be equally effective,

we would choose the female. If the choice is between a male and a less

effective female, we would choose the male. The faculty has included young

and old, male and female, black and white. For designated "role model"

sessions, we select professional females who have made difficult personal

choices in order to be where they are now. The most effective role models

are the faculty, staff, and counselors with whom the girls interact more

than once. Examples and personal comments make a greater impact than

formal presentations.

Logistics

Who said, "The devil is in the details"? The major hassles of each camp

are lodging, food, and transportation.

Lodging--During the summer the girls are housed in a university dormitory.

The accommodations are spartan at best but cheap and convenient. We have

learned to request a building to ourselves, in the girls' complex, and at

the end away from the band and cheerleader camps. The staff makes room

assignments to split up girls from the same school and to make sure new

girls have good roommates. Weekend accommodations are more expensive and

less convenient. The best we have found is a large group lodge at a state

park 30 miles from campus. It is on the back side of nowhere and available

only from March - early November. However, the price is reasonable,

everyone is under one roof, and there is no need for room assignments. It

has good kitchen and adequate bathroom facilities. The other option is to

use small cabins that sleep 6 - 12 people. These are more expensive,

require having a counselor in each cabin, and involve room assignments.

Food--Wherever the girls are lodged, we provide copious amounts of

snacks--junk food, fruit, bottled water, and sodas. Breakfast is cereal,

yogurt, juice, fruit, and sweet rolls available in the dorm or cabin except

that some mornings in the summer we provide breakfast sandwiches from

McDonalds. The first evening meal of every camp is pizza and soda. If the

girls are on campus, lunch and dinner are in the university cafeteria.

They don't like the food very well and it is actually more expensive than

having the counselors prepare the food, but it is simple. During the

summer camp, one of the directors hosts a cookout at her home one evening

and a nice evening meal is provided in a restaurant as part of the field

trip day. Most weekends, Saturday lunch is at McDonalds. The counselors

prepare Saturday dinner using prepared ingredients. Examples include

lasagna, salad, and garlic bread; a deli buffet; or tacos and baked

potatoes. A birthday cake helps celebrate the special events since the

last camp.

Transportation--A variety of 15 passenger and mini-vans from the University

Motor Pool are reserved. Each of the camp coordinators and counselors is

assigned a van. For the summer field trips a bus is chartered.

Transporting the luggage (30+ girls!!!) to and from the state park is a

major challenge particularly if we are using small cabins and the luggage

has to be separated by sleeping assignment.

Followup Data

Three followup studies of girls who completed the program have been

conducted. The findings have remained remarkably consistent. Of the girls

who responded each time to the mail survey, approximately half were

enrolled at TTU and approximately half were enrolled in a science-based

major. More important than the numbers are the individual stories. We

have watched these young ladies confront and overcome obstacles that many

adults could not handle. They have grown physically, intellectually,

emotionally, and socially. They walk onto a university campus as freshmen

who already know how to use the library, the computers, and the science

laboratory equipment. If they choose TTU, they know where the buildings

are located and are personally acquainted with several faculty members.

College is the next step--not a foreign land. From other campuses they

come to visit and share their successes.