advice for girls interested in a career in science or math

[Leslie Kay]

In article <01HMLEA9KHI6000SKI at OPIE.BGSU.EDU>,
Gina D. LaLiberte <GLALIBE at OPIE.BGSU.EDU> wrote:
>My abilities were doubted by my guidance counselor when I was picking my
>11th grade classes.  I was taking a heavy academic load for my school--
>anatomy, French, physics, Honors English, and journalism.  He looked at my
>schedule and said, "This is a pretty difficult schedule.  Are you sure you
>don't want to take some business courses or a typing class?"  I was third in 
>my class at the time, mind you, so it wasn't exactly an overload for me.  I
>held firm, and I can remember that interpreted his suggestions as "You should
>be a secretary" instead of "You should accomplish enough to have your own
>secretary."
>

I remember a navy aptitude test we all had to take in 10th grade.  The 
career advice went like this:
If you score in the 99 percentile and you check the "M" box, they recommend
that you become a scientist, engineer, or whatever.
If you scored in the 99th percentile and you checked the "F" box, they
recommend that you become a nurse or a secretary.  

Fortunately I didn't listen to them, but it took me a few years to find
my way to science.  That was after taking the honors math track after
being grilled by the counselors to see if I really was going to do something
with it, as there were plenty of boys who could take the class if I wasn't
going to be a scientist!

Leslie Kay
lmk2 at garnet.berkeley.edu