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Engaging girls at an early age
Families and teachers’ play a significant role in fostering a passion for studying chemistry, especially at a young age. Most of the female chemist respondents received family support for their decision to study chemistry (89%) while teachers and professors had an inspirational influence for 60% of the respondents. This confirms the crucial role that both families and educators play in encouraging girls to pursue an education in a specific field. One respondent reported: When I was 14 years old, my high school science teacher took my class to a science outreach event at the university (week of science) where we could visit the department of chemistry for a “chemical show” that had a profound impact on me. Research has also found that parents who speak positively about science inspire their children to study and seek a career in science.6
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N.M. Makwinya, R. H. (2015). Gender Disparaties in Sciences: the Question of Parental Influence on Children’s Self-Concept and Utility-Value. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(13), pp. 70-75.
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