About the Author--Grace Foote Johns
Grace Foote Johns serves as the Assistant to the Chairperson at the Illinois State University Physics Department.
She
possesses a bachelor's and master's in communication and is currently working
on her doctorate in educational administration and foundations. She has
also served on the Board of the Expanding Your Horizons Through Math, Science
and Technology Conference since 1991. She was honored for her years of
service by the EYH Conference Board at the 2004 EYH
Conference. You may download a pdf file that contains the
ISU Physics Department's EYH Conference and other career outreach activities for the past two years. Listed below is a reprint of Ms. Johns research and leadership goals statement as part of her doctoral student
admission materials.
Grace Foote Johns
Higher Education Leadership Attachment
To the EAF Doctoral Admissions Personal Data Form
1/28/04
For the last 13 years, I have worked professionally in the area of gender and multi-cultural career mentoring equity in the sciences as a complement to my work as Assistant to the Chairperson in the Physics Department at Illinois State University (ISU). Historically, the physical sciences are grossly underrepresented in the number of women who pursue physics, chemistry, and engineering careers with less than 19% of women obtaining bachelor's degrees in those fields. Even though, according to a 2000 American Institute of Physics survey (Stowe, 2000), over 47% of high school age women take physics. The numbers of individuals pursuing physics, chemistry, and engineering careers are even less for persons in ethnic minorities. Numerous studies have been done by the American Association of Women (AAUW) about the educational environment for women such as 1992 “Why Schools Shortchange Girls” (AAUW, 1992), and its 1998 follow-up report “Gender Gap: Where Schools Still Shortchange our Children” (AAUW, 1998). The groundbreaking 2001 article by Muller, Kinzie, and Stage, “Science Achievement Growth Trajectories: Understanding the Factors Related to Gender and Racial-Ethnic Differences in Pre-College Science Achievement” (Muller et all, 2001) makes clear that— regardless of gender or ethnic background—access to educational opportunities in math, science and technology is one of the key variables in promoting educational equity. These and other serious educational research in gender and multi-cultural equity issues detail the serious need for reform in not only how education is taught in terms of the attitudes of educators and administrators, but also who gains access to math, science, and technology education.
Through my work on behalf of Illinois State University's Expanding Your Horizons Through Math, Science, and Technology Conference (EYH) that I have helped organize since 1991, we strive to broaden the opportunities and the educational support network for women and minorities who seek to pursue careers previously thought to be “non-traditional” for them. Through annual, one day, career exploration workshops lead by women professionals, 5 th – 10 th grade young women meet women role models who help get them interested and enthused in a career involving math, science, and technology. Because education involves a system wide support network, parents, and the students teachers also participate in workshops to help them be informed and supportive mentors of these young women. We keep registration for the EYH Conference affordable and accessible through university contributions and community donations. One major ally we have had for several years is ISU's College of Education who has funded the EYH Conference registrations of several hundred student attendees from economically disadvantaged Chicago schools. The EYH Conference itself is a diverse as its goals.
Yet, gender and multi-cultural career mentoring takes more than a one day per year conference. Through my work at ISU's Physics Department, I have been privileged to work with educators across campus, such as ISU's Women's Studies Department, who also work to promote educational gender and multi-cultural equity. In my own experience at the ISU Physics Department, I have organized several undergraduates and colleagues who give workshops for the EYH Conference. I also encourage our physics majors to present at ISU's Women's Studies Symposium and at ISU's Undergraduate Research Symposium. Finally, whether it is for a scholarship, or teaching assistant or research assistant opportunities, I make sure all qualified students are made aware of them—especially women and minorities. We have a growing cadre of faculty who now forward to me information or opportunities that they learn about regarding gender and multi-cultural equity so that I may share it with our students. Our condensed matter physicist works in the area of nanotechnologies and has a thriving international student research exchange program to China that she has run for several years. Finally, our Physics Teacher Education Coordinator is a leader in educating the next generation of physics teachers to be not only excellent content educators, but also gender and multi-culturally cognizant educators. He demonstrates true leadership in our department in this area and I feel fortunate to have worked with him on several projects. We need more leadership by women, minorities (and everyone) at the university level (Rosser, 2002; Whitten, 2000; CAS, 2003).
The impetus for my returning to graduate school to begin my doctoral studies was due in large part from several of these departmental and campus influences. I am at a point in my career where I want to attain the next level of education so that I may conduct research on gender and multi-cultural career mentoring as well as write grants to help fund some of the programs we hope to enact to facilitate the next level of educational reform. Indeed, it was the experience of being part of a grant writing group for an NSF grant a few years ago to expand what we do with EYH to a multi-week summer workshop for high school educators and students that helped me realize I needed more professional tools to do the work that I want to do. I ended up being the primary grant writer for our group (having had no prior grant writing experience). It required a steep learning curve to say the least. But I rose to the challenge and I and my fellow group members (especially our Physics Teacher Education Coordinator), were pleased with the proposal. Unbeknownst to us (and the Graduate School), it turned out that there was another, more experienced grant writing team in the College of Education who were also writing a proposal for the same grant. Since NSF only accepts one proposal per institution, ISU's Graduate School reviewed both proposals and submitted the College of Education plan. Though disappointed at not being selected, I and our group are hopeful to resubmit other grant proposals in the future to help fund the work we do in gender and multi-cultural career mentoring equity. I look forward to obtaining the knowledge and skills that will enable me to pursue educational research and grant writing, as well as teaching at an institution of higher education.
My work with EYH Conference, grant and paper writing projects and other experiences--including mentoring a student research project on “The Contribution of Women and Minority Physicists: Dr. Lise Meitner and Dr. Shirley Jackson” (Yapp, 2002)--have lead me to seek to broaden my own educational attainment. Starting in Summer of 2002 with a feminist research class as part of the Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies that I am also pursuing, I became a graduate student again after a 19 year hiatus (I obtained my M. S. in Communication in 1983). These doctoral student intellectual pursuits have energized my life. I have demonstrated through my doctoral coursework to date that I am more than up to meeting the challenge of a rigorous graduate program. My professors are excellent teacher-scholar role models from whom I am certain to continue to benefit with regard to my content knowledge, research and critical thinking skills, and teaching methodology. I am enthused about the new opportunities that have opened and will continue to open to me through my pursuing a doctoral degree at Illinois State University. I plan to use the professional development I gain through my doctoral studies to improve the execution of and educational infrastructure for gender and multi-cultural career mentoring equity in our schools. Ultimately, I hope we, as educators, can lead our young people (and academic professionals) to pursue their and others highest educational and professional potential and therefore increase the contribution that all of us make as members of the academy and responsible citizens in our society.
Bibliography
American Association of University Women Educational Foundation. (1998). Gender Gaps:
Where Schools Still Fail Our Children. , (Washington, D. C: American Association of University Women).
American Association of University Women Educational Foundation. (1992). How Schools
Shortchange Girls. , (Washington, D. C: American Association of University Women).
Muller, P. A., F. K. Stage, and J. Kinzie. (2001). “Science Achievement Growth Trajectories:
Understanding the Factors Related to Gender and Racial-Ethnic Differences in Precollege Science Achievement,” American Educational Research Journal , 38 ( 4), 981-1012.
Rosser, Sue V. (2002). “A Shift in Focus from Individual to Institutional Solutions to Attract
and Retain Women in Science and Engineering.” AWIS Magazine , 31 (1), pp. 23 – 27.
Ivie, R. and K. Stowe. (2000). “Women in Physics, 2000.” American Institution of Physics
(Publication # R-430).
Whitten, Barbara L. (Fall 2000). “Improving the Climate for Women in Physics: Site Visit
Program.” CSWP Gazette , Committee on the Status of Women in Physics of the American Physical Society, pp. 3 & 14.
Yapp, Rebecca D. (2002). “Physics 290 Honors Research Project: The Contributions of Women
Physicists--Two Profiles.” Illinois State University: Women's Studies Symposium and Undergraduate Research Symposium (both March 2002), and the Expanding Your Horizons Conference (March 2002 and 2003); and Annual Argonne Undergraduate Research Symposium, October 2002. (I mentored this student with George Rutherford.)
College of Arts and Sciences. (2003). “Recruitment, Retention, and Leadership Development of
Women and Minority Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences.” Underrepresented Groups Task Force, College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University
Page last updated 8/02/04gfj