Close your eyes and picture a scientist. Who do you see?

When Westridge students do this experiment through Middle School Teacher Barbra Chabot’s seventh-grade science “Draw a Scientist” assignment, virtually all of them draw women!

Nationwide, the number of students who picture scientists as women has trended up from less than 1% in the 60s and 70s to 27% over the last five decades. (For girls alone, that number jumps to 45% in recent years!) However, there is some disappointing news hidden in that trend: While children under 8 are likely to draw their own gender, by age 15 kids depict males 75% of the time. With female representation still lagging in STEM fields, open discussion of the issue, centering female scientists, and seeing girls fill all the chairs in STEM classes, clubs, and activities at Westridge make a difference in girls' ability to see science as a viable path for women and themselves!

The "Draw a Scientist" assignment kicks off 7th grade Life Science as students investigate who scientists are, what they do, and where they work. They read accounts of the day in the life of scientists and also discussed stereotypes. Seventh graders were then asked to create artwork depicting scientists—"exploring the wide range of people, places, questions, and fields of study that belong to the world of science," explained Chabot.

Here are three student reflections based on the artwork (which you can view here!):

"This assignment made me think about how when I picture a scientist I think of an American man in a white lab coat holding beakers. Why did I think of that? As a feminist, I genuinely have no idea why I immediately thought of a white male.... Maybe it's what I was taught as a child. Maybe it's what most of the world thinks of. Maybe it's what people want me to think. Either way, I'd like to rethink my biases." —Myra O. '32

"Honestly, I hope that people see that there are many different ways to be a scientist, not just different types of science. I am happiest writing, and writing is still an important part of science. You don't have to be out in the field to be a scientist. The assignment definitely got me thinking about different stages in the scientific process." —Xana P. '32

"I would like if the viewers see that you can learn and discover so much by being curious and asking questions, like scientists. As you can see, my scientist is researching and studying caves, and she is digging for artifacts. This got me thinking about how there are so many different types of scientists, and anyone can be one if they want to." —Aurelia E. '32