A Message from the Executive Director Karen Kenney
It is no wonder that the liftoff of a space shuttle is so exciting. After years of preparation and dreaming, the success of the launch is enthralling. That is exactly how I felt on July 28, 2011, when we celebrated the completion of the first phase of our first Eureka! program.
About 5 years ago our former Girls and Teen Program Director, Tristen Fredrickson, and I identified Eurkea! as one of the National Girls Inc. programs that we wanted to provide to middle school teens. Today I am so very proud to say that we are the 5th Girls Inc. affiliate, out of 92 Girls Inc. organizations, to create this incredible program. This comprehensive, three year program is critical to ensuring that we have young women who are prepared, enthused and confident to enter the fields of science, technology and math.
Call it serendipity or fate that on July 17, 2011, an article written by Meg Urry, entitled "Girls and the Future of Science," appeared in the print media. Meg is the Director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. For those of you who haven’t read the article, Urry begins the article by expressing her delight that three teen girls won the top prizes at the recent, prestigious Google Science Fair. In a country where men greatly outnumber women in the sciences, Urry is encouraged by the outcome of this competition and yet still questions why inequality exists.
She asks the question: "What is holding girls back?" Urry says, "It's not ability; it's not preparation; it's not family issues; it's not lack of interest in the subject matter -so what is it? Why, so few women in the sciences?" Urry’s supposition is that women are not taught to brag about their success while men are comfortable talking about their superiority and discoveries in the sciences. She says, "Girls are instead socialized to respond to others and consider their ideas. In the academic marketplace, it's all about putting your own ideas forward."A male colleague once told Urry, "Don't ask us what we think; don't try to forge a consensus. Just bang on the table and tell us what to do." This style doesn't come naturally to many women. Further she says, "Girls are more likely to internalize failure -a bad test grade, they think, must be because they aren't good at this stuff, or they didn't work hard enough -whereas boys are more likely to blame the test or the teacher."
Urry ends by saying "My guess is the parents and teachers of the Google winners had high expectations, encouraged ambition, and above all, didn't play to gender stereotypes."
Does any of this sound familiar? Of course it does. The parents, teachers, and supporters of our Eureka! Rookies have very high expectations for them. The teens are intentionally engaged in academic courses, health and fitness activities, and personal development exercises through Eurekea! They are having the opportunity to become even stronger, smarter and bolder. At the end of year three, I expect every one of them to brag loudly and proudly about all of their accomplishments.
Karen D. Kenney
Executive Director