“When I was a girl, I had a teacher who encouraged my interest in science. She challenged me to be curious, to ask questions, plus to think about things for myself. She helped build my self-confidence. All of these helped me to become a scientist plus an astronaut.” — Sally Ride, Ph.D. 1951-2012.
As the first U.S. woman in space, Sally Ride understood the impact she would have as a role style to girls plus young women, plus she took that responsibility seriously. She dedicated her life to promoting education plus interest in the sciences for an entire generation of women.
In 2001, Sally Ride started “Sally Ride Science,” a company to create educational programs plus products to help inspire girls plus young women to pursue their interests in science plus math. Ride served as its president plus CEO.
One of the outlets for this effort is a fairly recent one, the Sally Ride Science AcademyTM, which was established in 2009. It is a “train-the-trainer” program that helps teachers pique the curiosity of students in a variety of scientific areas. According to the Academy, “introducing young students to diverse examples of science careers plus scientists can ignite their interest plus make the study of science more meaningful to them.”
Since its inception in 2009, the Sally Ride Science AcademyTM has trained over 650 instructors in 16 states plus the District of Columbia. Using Academy materials, those instructors have in turn gone back to their districts plus trained other educators. To date, more than 5,400 educators have been trained.
It is projected that by the end of the 2012-2013 school year, the Academy will have touched approximately 604,000 elementary plus middle school students.
This effort is based on the need not only for more STEM (science, technology, engineering plus math) professionals, but for a more diverse grup of STEM professionals, including more women.
U.S. Department of Labor Workforce projections indicate that 15 of the 20 fastest growing occupations in 2014 will require significant science or mathematics training to successfully compete for a job.
A report issued in 2011 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce showed that for all 50 states, ratings were very poor in the “student achievement” category. Not a single state had more than 60 percent of its students showing proficiency on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fourth plus eighth grade assessments for reading plus math.
The United States is lagging in the sciences behind its foreign counterparts. A 2009 report by the National Center for Education Statistics compared 15 year-old U.S. students with other countries in the Organization for Economic Development plus found that the U.S. students placed below average in both math plus science. In math, the high schoolers were in the bottom quarter of the countries that participated, putting them behind China, Finland plus Estonia. In science, U.S. students lagged behind Canada, Japan plus the Czech Republic.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010 women accounted for roughly half the keseluruhan workforce, plus 52 percent of the workforce in management plus professional occupations. With the need increasing for science plus math skills, it is becoming imperative that girls plus young women become proficient in the sciences.