Agnes Scott College

Under the leadership of Professor Lerita Coleman Brown (center), 13 Agnes Scott first-year students in the GEMS program prepare for success in math and science.

ATLANTA—Studies show that many girls who express enthusiasm for careers in science and math in elementary school have shifted their aspirations to other disciplines by the time they leave high school. Someone (peers, society, family) or something (curriculum, presentation of the material) seems to be steering girls away from science and math.

To quote an infamous talking Barbie released in 1992, which met with very vocal opposition from women’s groups and educators: “Math class is tough!”

Through its new and growing GEMS Program, Agnes Scott College intends to not only change that perception but also to foster success in studying these two areas.

“We want to counteract the negativity surrounding women in math and science,” said Lerita Coleman Brown, director of ASC’s Generating Excellence in Math and Science (GEMS) Program. “We want to reignite their childhood fire for math and science and transform it into a perpetual flame.”

But the battle doesn’t end with successfully persuading young women to pursue math and science study in higher education. Among women who start college with a plan to major in a science- or math-related field, a significant number move to a different major after struggling with math and science courses in their early college years, Brown said.

To combat this trend, Brown, the Ayşe Carden Distinguished Professor of Psychology, and many others in the math and science departments at Agnes Scott started work to create the GEMS Program (aided by a consortium called PKAL-Keck designed to promote the interdisciplinary teaching of math and science).

The goal of the program, now with around 45 members, is to ensure that women who start at Agnes Scott with an interest in majoring in math and science receive the academic resources and social encouragement they need to graduate and go on to math and science careers.

The first stages of the program included a small group of students that met informally throughout the 2007 school year to discuss the challenges and benefits of being a math and science student at Agnes Scott. As they talked, one theme became clear, Brown said.

Many students were having trouble making the transition from passive high school student to independent college student, particularly in math and science courses where the gap between high school and college material can be wide.

“It was shocking to the students how different the expectations were,” Brown said. “It didn’t take much for them to get discouraged, and we realized that a safety net was needed to support these students.”

GEMS geared up in its second year to create study groups, mentoring programs and research opportunities that could provide students with peers and advising to nurture their passion for math and science with everything from practical advice to emotional support.

This summer, GEMS also unveiled its first Summer Bridge program, a seven-week summer residential program at Agnes Scott, which included paid tuition, room and board and was designed to help first-year students transition into a more rigorous college curriculum during their crucial first year. The program also helps ease students into life on campus and college class schedules.

“For me, having a support group is very important,” said Syedah Asghar, a first-year from Fairburn, Ga., who attended the GEMS Summer Bridge Program. “When you’re a first-year, it can be scary, but those jitters are out of the way now. And because there are only 13 of us, we’ve had the opportunity to grow close.”

If students build a connection with peers and mentors early in their college career, those connections can help students develop a math or scientific identity that makes the transition into the larger scientific community in graduate school and careers beyond college a lot easier, Brown said.

GEMS started the selection process by inviting students who had expressed an interest in pursuing a math or science major on their applications to participate in the program. After an application process that included an essay on the student’s passion for math and/or science and a phone interview, 13 students were selected.

The summer program included two courses (The Science of Drug Action and Creative Problem Solving in Mathematics) created to complement the students’ first-year studies, as well as information on coping skills such as how to approach professors for help or how to bounce back from a bad grade on an exam.

This year’s students visited places that showcase science and math in action, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Medical Examiner and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. They also participated in several volunteer projects and unwound at pizza and movie nights, game nights and a Braves game.

This year’s Summer Bridge went well, Brown said. She was elated when several students requested a white board for their residence hall because they had grown tired of sharing challenging equations by writing on their mirrors.

“Now THAT’S enthusiasm for math,” she laughed.

And it’s a result that fits perfectly with the GEMS program’s ultimate goal — producing the next generation of women scientists and mathematicians to support each other and the women that will follow them.

The GEMS Program is supported by donations from The Camp Younts Foundation, the John and Mary Franklin Foundation Inc. and the Liz Chandler Fund.

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Agnes Scott College educates women to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of their times. Students are drawn to Agnes Scott by its excellent academic reputation, exceptional faculty, and metropolitan Atlanta location – offering myriad cultural and experiential learning opportunities. A diverse and growing residential community of scholars, this highly selective liberal arts and sciences college is known for its dynamic and challenging intellectual community. Encouraging students to engage the wider world through study abroad and presenting its curriculum with international context, Agnes Scott College delivers on its promise: The World for Women.