Girl Power

Raising Smart, Bold Girls

By Tara Swords

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."

Jane Daniels saw that phrase on a T-shirt once, and it resonated within her. As the director of Purdue University's Women in Engineering program, Daniels' career is devoted to encouraging young women to break through old-fashioned stereotypes that could hinder their success.

"I think we still send some very traditional messages [to girls]: be careful, be good, be quiet," Daniels says. "And none of those things are very helpful in making major changes in society."

Daniels' aim is to bring more women into the field of engineering, mirroring a national trend of encouraging girls to explore careers in math and science. It is in these two areas that women are most severely under-represented.

From 1970 to 1996, the number of women earning bachelor's degrees in engineering jumped a whopping 3,000 percent. But placed into context, the progress seems much more muted; In 1970 women earned less than 1 percent of the engineering degrees awarded that year. The 3,000 percent increase means that women were earning just 16 percent of the engineering degrees by 1996.

One group that has helped this trend build slow but steady momentum over the last 50 years is Girls Incorporated. This national youth organization is dedicated to "inspiring all girls to become strong, smart and bold." Faedra Weiss, research associate at Girls Incorporated, says research has shown that when it comes to math and science, girls often don't even realize their own bottomless potential.

"One thing that tends to be true with girls is that girls tend to think that math is something that you either have a talent for or you don't, and that working harder isn't going to help," Weiss says. "If they're having trouble, they may decide it's not worth it."

Want to see more?

• Nasty Girls: Nipping Gossip in the Bud
• There She Is...Young Women and Beauty Pageants
• Nice Teens Do Brag: Expert Advice From Communication Coach Peggy Klaus
• Talk about it!