University at Albany
State University Of New York
Feb. 22 Panel Looks at How Educators Can Help Girls Succeed
ALBANY - The Albany Academy for Girls and the University at Albany will present a forum on "Young Women as Learners and Doers: Do We Make Them or Break Them?" at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the auditorium of the Albany Academy for Girls, 140 Academy Road. The event is free and open to the public.
Local panelists will include Judy Genshaft, dean of the University's School of Education, and David Horenstein, a psychologist in private practice and a faculty member at St. Clare's Hospital Residency Program, Schenectady. Speakers will look at how high schools and colleges can promote the success of young women.
A recent American Association of University Women report (How Schools Shortchange Girls) found that:
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Girls receive significantly less teacher attention than boys;
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Reports of sexual harassment of girls by boys are increasing;
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The gender gap in math is small and declining, but girls are still not pursuing math-related careers in proportion to boys;
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Girls who went on to take some college math closed the wage gap with men in their fields;
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The gender gap in science hasn't declined and may be increasing;
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Although African-American girls initiate teacher contact more often than Caucasian girls, they are more likely to be rebuffed by teachers;
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Curricula commonly ignore or stereotype females;
Many standardized tests contain elements of sex bias.
In addition, earlier work on behavioral theory by Carol Gilligan of Harvard University found that girls' confidence in their own iIntellectual reasoning and opinions peaks around age 11 and tends to decline through adolescence.
Moderator at the Feb. 22 forum is Frederick Alford, dean of students at Union College in Schenectady. Other panelists include: Myrna Friedlander, of the University at Albany's Department of Counseling Psychology; Edith Gummer, a research assistant on the National Academy of Sciences standards project, which defines the curriculum, instructional practices and assessment strategies in K-12 science; Elizabeth Hemstead, athletic director of the Albany Academy for Girls, and an active participant in developing an educational program to enhance girls' self-esteem; and Judith Johnson, professor of English and Women's Studies at the University at Albany, a prize-winning poet, performance artist and fiction writer.
The February 22 forum is the first joint sponsorship effort by the Albany Academy for Girls and the University at Albany's Initiatives for Women program. Initiatives for Women is a fund-raising campaign at the University at Albany designed to enhance educational and career opportunities for women. Part of the Campaign for Albany, Initiatives for Women has a target of raising $1 million by 1999. The goal of the effort is to provide women with the means to advance themselves personally and professionally.
February 16, 1995
