The Science Education of American Girls: A Historical Perspective (Paperback)

by Kim Tolley (Author) "The revolution has been favorable to science in general, particularly to that of the geography of our own country," wrote the Reverend Jedidiah Morse..." (more)
Key Phrases: female higher schools, unprocessed additions, vocational movement, United States, North Carolina, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The Science Education of American Girls is an important contribution to the literature that analyzes the relationship between girls and science and math
...in a highly readable and very well-researched volume, she documents some of the social, cultural, and economic factors involved in the shift from science being a female-dominated field of study to its becoming a male-dominated field..
–Science Education, 2004

Historian Kim Tolley has written an important book....Tolley is the first to bring together th ediverse elements of the story in a comprehensive way. In fact, no one has really studied the history of science education of American girls (elementary through secondary) as thoroughly as she has....Tolley retains a firm hand and does not take sides.
–American Journal of Education

Kim Tolley's The Science Educatioin of American Girls will stand as a model of scholarship in the history of education..
Vol.45, No.1
–History of Education Quarterly, Spring 2005

Kim Tolleys The Science Educatioin of American Girls will stand as a model of scholarship in the history of education..
Vol.45, No.1
–History of Education Quarterly, Spring 2005

Making use of vignettes, quantitative data, and illustrations, this richly written book traces the complex series of events that led to the domination of males in school science by the 20th century. A must-read for every scholar with interest in gender, issues of equity, history of education, and science education. Practitioners in science will also find this treatment of women and science education insightful.
–Choice

Wide ranging in its coverage and sometimes provocative in its analysis....This pioneering book will surely encourage further study of issues of gender and science education.
–Isis, March 2004

Product Description
Girls have always excelled in subjects that are artistic or literary while boys have traditionally worked better with numbers, formulas and algorithms. Right? Wrong. Science was originally considered a "girl's subject" in the early nineteenth century, with a greater percentage of girls' schools offering equally sophisticated courses in physics, astronomy and chemistry than did comparable institutions for boys.
This insightful study provides a comparative analysis of the history of science education for adolescent boys and girls. Tracing the evolution of girls' scientific interests from the antebellum era through the twentieth century, it expands the understanding of the obstacles that emerged to change the dominant gender in science studies.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: RoutledgeFalmer; 1 edition (October 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415934737
• ISBN-13: 978-0415934732
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,027,858 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read Book, January 21, 2004

By A Customer

This well-written book offers primary source material that has radically altered this reviewer's thinking regarding women and science. Tolley demonstrates that science was indeed a "girls' subject," dispelling the common notion that it has always been exclusively within the male domain. The unexpected finding that proportionally more girls than boys studied science in early American academies is well substantiated. Thoroughly researched, this engaging volume concludes that, although the decline of science as a girls' subject in school was, in part, a result of discrimination, the decline of women's interest in science was also an unanticipated result of purposeful efforts to elevate the status of female education in the 19th century. Making use of vignettes, quantitative data, and illusrations, this richly written book traces the complex series of events that led to the domination of males in school science by the 20th century. A must-read for every scholar with interests in gender, issues of equity, history of education, and science education. Practitioners in science will also find this treatment of women and science education insightful. Summing up: Highly recommended. All university libraries; upper-division undergraduates and above. Copyright 2003 American Library Association