5/11/2020 0 Comments Impact due to covid-19I'm fortunate enough to have most of my project unaffected by COVID-19, since it's primarily a research project that I can finish from home. It did alter my ability to have in-person conversations with the three women I interviewed, but Zoom, FaceTime, and phone calls proved sufficient. The biggest obstacle that I faced in the last month was being able to work on my project on the same days that I had online school. After sitting in front of a screen for four to five hours a day, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of the same screen for another hour or two. The first week I had off of school, though, almost finished the entire thing. The extra time also allowed me to add one more component to my research: a section about the class of 2020's intended majors, and how that relates to the data I already had. As my perfectionist self is adding the final touches to my 35-page report (sorry, Ms. Carsley, that it's that long. I promise it's quite interesting and is about 25% graphs), I also finished writing the script to my "Ted Talk" and will begin filming once I'm done with the three-day stretch of AP exams this week. I know that some of my fellow Fellows have been impacted more negatively by the Coronavirus, so I am grateful that I was able to stay relatively on track with my project.
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3/26/2020 0 Comments mid-Spring breakToday I began working on the first draft of my report. I've been stuck thinking about how I should exactly write my report, whether it should be more formal or if it could be a bit informal, considering the majority of what I'm writing about is my own work, not research on someone else's. Either way, I started by turning all of my qualitative data into graphs (which took a very long time) and organized them in the order I'm writing my report. I think the final project is going to be a little long because of all the data I have, but really interesting since a large portion is visual aide that really means something special. I'm finishing up two (and hopefully a third) interviews within the next few days, so after that I'll be done collecting data and can sit down and knock out my writing.
3/13/2020 0 Comments Spring break planOver spring break, I plan to put my whole project together. I have an absurd amount of data and research that needs to be formed into a write-up, so my spring break will consist of organizing and drafting my final product. If I have more time, I'll probably start finalizing the draft so I can have more time on the back end of April and May to re-check my project.
1/9/2020 1 Comment WInter break updateOver winter break, I completed most of my goal that I had set mid-December. I spent most of my time diving deeper into research about the psychological differences between males and females. A lot of what I already knew was confirmed, but I also learned more about chemical makeups and the physical differences between the male and female brain. I was able to make a lot of connections to my project, specifically how males and females are motivated by different things. I also reached out to a few women in STEM careers that could provide their opinion on my project and it's topic. Unfortunately, I can't control when people respond to emails, so I've only heard back from two women so far. Now that we're in the new year, I think that a after a follow-up, I'll be able to talk with at least three women before the end of February/beginning of March (which was my initial goal prior to winter break.) At this point, I just need to talk to the women and organize the current data I have, and I'll be able to start pulling together my final product.
11/17/2019 0 Comments Fall wrap-up part 4By the end of November, I will finish my surveys and send them out. I will use methods I learned in AP Statistics to choose a random group of people rather than the entire school. The groups would be as representative of the whole high school and middle school as possible. By December 6th, I will send out my initial emails to a few women in STEM, and I hope to receive all the information I need from both the surveys and the emails by December 20th, since it is close to the holidays and not many people will want to respond promptly. Over winter break I will organize the information I collected and continue to research, so by the time I get back to school I will hopefully have enough to start wrapping up my research and start polishing my project.
11/17/2019 0 Comments Fall wrap-up Part 3To-Do List:
1. More research into the psychology of girls and women compared to men and how it translates to school and STEM 2. Reach out to women in STEM fields and get their opinion 3. Finalize drafts of survey and send them out 4. Pull together information to create final product and presentation List of Needs: 1. Contacts of women in STEM 2. A survey platform to use Phase Plan: Phase 1: Finish surveys and send them out to a specific group. I should do this first because it will most likely take the most time to receive all the information I need. Phase 2: Reach out to some women in STEM. I have some connections with women in Silicon Valley, California, amongst others. I will come up with some questions similar to the surveys, or even about what I learn from the surveys, and either email them or find a time to Skype/talk on the phone. Phase 3: Continue research on the STEM issue and the psychology of girls and women compared to men. Phase 4: Pull all my information together and come up with an answer to "why?" When I can answer this questions, I can use the information to come up with ways that will help the problem. 11/16/2019 0 Comments Fall Wrap-up Part 2With all the articles and pieces of research I’ve come across, I had to be aware of bias. What has worked for me in this process is that if I come across a piece of information, I double and triple-check to make sure it’s true. I’ve also been using my community to help me set myself up for the next stage of my project. I am close with a few friends of my family that have suggested I talk to some accomplished women in STEM, and have even been able to have their contact information so I can learn more. It is difficult to see tangible progress in a research project. I had struggled to come up with what my final project will look truly look like, which makes it harder to keep working, since I did not know what I was exactly working toward. I believe that I’ve found a path that I’m going to follow for the rest of the year, though, which gears more toward the psychology aspect of why girls are not as interested in STEM.
11/14/2019 0 Comments Fall wrap-up Part 1I have finished all the research on women and girls in STEM that I had hoped to, plus more. I have created a significantly long document and filled a notebook with all that I have learned, including statistics and quotes from articles and papers that I’ve come across. I’ve also done research on my surveys and written drafts of questions that I plan to send out in the next few months. The most enjoyable part of my project is how much I’ve learned. My initial reasoning for applying to be a Fellow and putting so much time into a project is because I’m invested in the topic of women in STEM, and I’ve learned so much more about the problem than I thought I would. The best part about it is that for every fact I see about how women aren’t represented in STEM, I see one about how a woman has done something amazing in the fields.
10/11/2019 0 Comments Fall Update #2I've decided to alter my project a bit to focus more on Severn. I think that my final product, suggestions on increasing girls' interest in STEM, will be more effective in a closer circle at first. Being too broad will make my project more difficult to finish in the short time I have from now until May. I had originally planned to talk to Mr. Lagarde about the possibility of sharing my surveys with other schools, but I don't think that will be effective enough to significantly enhance my project.
9/6/2019 0 Comments Fall Update #1I've continued researching statistics about women in STEM and have realized that I won't be able to pull together any advice to help girls with just facts. I've been able to see what fields women are more likely to choose that aren't math or science-related, but I can only make general assumptions as to why. I decided that to find that "why," I need to look closer into the psychology of girls and women. I think that with information on the female way of thinking, the hard facts and numbers will hold more meaning, and I can produce a meaningful project at the end of the year.
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