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I feel it pertinent to talk about my science education because it was so unusual. i went to a small school outside of nyc that focused mainly on the arts and humanities. it had, right before i entered, been an all girls school and yet, still, there was very little emphasis on the sciences....never really thought very deeply about this until now. All i can remember from middle school science was talking about bodies, a little sex and reproduction, and the senses (smell, sight, hearing and so on). In high school you were required to take at least one science course. I took physics. In this physics class, believe it or not, i learned less about the actual topic of physics than I have in the class we are in now. We mostly talked about philosophy and, again, sex. Through my eight years at this school women remained the majority. In fact, in middle school, all math and science classes were single sex. I wonder, however, why it was that science was so "fluffy". It was not for a lack of good, competent, knowledgable science teachers, because we had plenty. I wonder, and i hope i'm not being cynical in any way, if perhaps it had to do with the teachers' response to the predominantly female classes. Despite the school's obvious attempts at encouraging the math and science fields to all students and provide as flexible and welcoming a scientific environment (by making single sex math and science classes) as possible, it seemed almost like a front to appease all the well-read parents who were concerned that their daughters were not receiving a proper scientific education. I remember distinctly that some of the boys in my grade, who felt inclined to pursure math or science, were mentored by older male teachers, taken under their wing so to speak. But outside of those who were self-motivated to learn more, the school remained lax about really providing this so-called liberal education we were supposed to be receiving. This may entirely be the fault of my school but it concerns me very seriously that any school might assume that making superficial changes to a school to encourage strong scientific learning is sufficient.

Just a thought...If we do not own science, and call it ours then we cannot make it ours. I believe in a humble approach to science. I believe that science is part of nature and nature should not be controlled. However, if we want to approach science in a healthy and multi-gendered way, then we need to take control of it, we need to own it.
Odile