PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia-based nonprofit wants to do something to boost representation of women in male-dominated, math-intensive fields, such as computer science, physics and engineering.
There are about four men for every woman in those fields, according to the Brookings Institution. And Atiyah Harmon says the numbers are worse for Black women. Through her nonprofit, Black Girls Love Math, she wants to boost those numbers for women of color.
“Just 4% of college math degrees are held by Black women, so it limits a lot of opportunities for the girls to pursue STEM careers,” Harmon said, referring to fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “And that’s why we seek to increase the number of girls.”
This is one math problem that should be easy to solve. More girls, especially girls of color, in advanced math classes, plus more advanced math degrees, equals more women with fulfilling careers in STEM fields.
But there are a few obstacles, says Harmon.
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When she was a math teacher and a school principal, Harmon says she noticed that, around 6th or 7th grade, girls started to turn away from math and did not seek out advanced math courses. Not only that, but she says Black girls were usually not encouraged to enroll in advanced classes.
Many may say they hate math, or they are not “math people,” but Harmon says it could really be a reflection of the way girls are taught.
“There’s systemic racism, even in schools. Maybe teachers have bias as to whether girls are capable of doing higher-level mathematics, so that can be part of the reason,” Harmon said.
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“Math, traditionally, was very ‘This is how you do it,’ ‘This is the way, and you have to get the right answer without exploring different ways to solve the problem,’” she said.
But Black Girls Love Math is all about taking a different approach, Harmon says.
The group currently partners with two schools in Camden and five in Philadelphia to offer a culturally responsive curriculum for girls, for 60 to 90 minutes after school. The group also has a summer math acceleration program.
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The group encourages girls to “nerd out” when they are together — “giggling about decimals and fractions and just having fun, experiencing the math they do in class and sharing their love for math with each other,” Harmon said.
“We want to create that community, that safe space for girls.”
Each week the girls are introduced to what Harmon calls “she-roes” — women of color who are working in STEM fields — so they can see themselves in those roles.
For more information about the work Black Girls Love Math is doing, find them online.