t fourteen, Laura East has a bright future ahead of her. Intelligent, energetic and motivated, she gets good grades, participates in extracurricular activities and serves on student council. She loves English and hopes to become a novelist. East used to dream of being a doctor - until she discovered that she hated math. And she's not alone.
Despite the feminist movement and the sexual revolution, many schools struggle to keep females present, and active, in math and science classes. At FHS, where girls constitute only 31 percent of higher math, science and computer classes, a gender gap in math SAT scores raises the question: where are the girls?
At the elementary level, "girls are more interested in academics overall. They are generally stronger in both language and math when they leave here," said Terry Welder, educator at the Kalispell Montessori School.
Eight-year-old Katie Doepker, a third grader at Montessori, hasn't lost interest in math and science - yet. Although it is sometimes difficult for her, she finds math enjoyable.
"Math is my favorite subject," said Doepker. "It's hard sometimes but I still like it."
"I like math the best," agreed nine-year-old Lizzie Richmond. "It's something that I can do the best in."
However, during the middle years of 5th and 6th grade, and particularly into the junior high years, a change occurs in many girls.
"I see so many strong, bright women go on and disappear," said Welder. "Girls sort of fade into the woodwork, particularly in the areas of math and science."
Author and psychologist Mary Pipher writes in her book Reviving Ophelia, that during adolescence, studies show that girls' IQ scores drop and their math and science scores plummet. By the time they reach high school, many females have already tuned out to math and science.
At FHS girls have scored an average of 40.2 points lower than males on math SATs over the last five years. Many female students feel that they are not strong in the areas of math and science or have little interest in the subjects.
"I already have all the credits I need and (math and science) don't interest me," said senior Mindy Hartigan. "I don't think it interests girls as much as guys."
"Math was making me miserable and bringing down my GPA," agreed senior Meg Alley. "It's difficult for me. My mind just doesn't function that way."
"I'm interested in the field of music," said senior Deanne Price. "I know that math and music are related, but I hate math and I hate science."
Chemistry teacher Kathie Ackerly, for one, has seen many changes in the ways girls approach math and science in her 10 years of teaching. Recalling the days when she had to cross the street to another high school to attend science classes, she believes that girls have "come along way" in math and science.
"Males tend to be more left-brained," said Ackerly, explaining the reasons why many boys prefer working square roots to reciting Shakespeare. "If you take males and females they seem to tend to process things differently."
Yet Ackerly stresses the importance of challenging girls in areas they may feel the weakest.
"We all have these skills, we just need to develop them," said Ackerly. "All too often, females are questioned as to whether they really need (math and science), but we all need to be taking challenging classes."
While science seems to indicate that biological differences may be a factor in the way males and females learn, many feel environmental factors are important as well.
"Boys think of themselves as scientists and mathematicians because their dads tell them to," said Welder. "There is a strong message for women not to outperform men, and they get that message pretty early. A lot of times it's not even conscious."
Grace Coates, a Berkeley-based coordinator of public programs for EQUALS, a program providing teacher training and curriculum material to promote female participation in math-based courses, offers suggestions for ways teachers can promote gender equity in the classroom.
"Teachers tend to not ask challenging questions to girls as much as they do to boys and to question boys more in general," Coates said. "A lot of times teachers don't do this consciously, but they need to be aware of it."
Because girls often work better in group settings, Coates says "teachers should not be doing just lecture and chalkboard work." The "Drill and Kill" technique often stifles girls' enthusiasm for math and science. "Providing concrete models puts mathematics in a real-world context - something girls relate to better," Coates said.
"It's important that counselors be aware that they are encouraging girls to be involved in math and sciences" and describe math as a gatekeeper for many courses of study, said Coates.
EQUALS also emphasizes the importance of girls "trying different roles through role playing and projects and particularly by exploring leadership roles."
Many educators, such as Montessori administrator Sally Welder, agree.
"I think part of the reason why Montessori works so well (for girls) is because of the three-year integration of classrooms," said Welder. "(A girl) is put into a leadership position and they feel less threatened in that position."
Whether change comes from classroom structure, teachers or parental models, schools must "cross the borders we have socially created" and make girls active participants in math and science, said Coates.
"We are missing some of our finest male minds in the arts and finest female minds in the sciences because of our traditional roles," agreed Ackerly. "And that's really sad."
Perhaps one of the most important things society can do is to support and encourage young females aspiring to a career in the math or sciences.
Says Ackerly:
"Follow your heart. And follow your dreams."