Chemical Change
Chemistry Department Breaking Away From Traditional Gender Roles
What do Isaac Newton, Louis Pasteur, and Alfred Nobel all have in common? They are men whose gained fame through chemistry.
A group of students at Langston University intend to break away from the trend and make a name for themselves in the field of chemistry. This particular group is made up of women, however, and they are seeking a career in what has often been a male-dominated field.
The National Science Foundation reported in 2008 that only about 50 percent of chemistry majors were female and only about nine percent were females from underrepresented minority groups.
The Langston chemistry department consists of nine females out of 15 total students despite chemistry often being a profession in which men have been at the forefront. For the Langston students, however, it is more about what chemistry they have with the science than wanting to change gender perceptions.
One of those students, senior Rose Cooper, said she had a passion for chemistry and that she was excited to learn, especially when she was able to understand how something worked.
“The equations explain how the world works around you,” Cooper, who came to Langston via Tulsa Memorial High School, said. “I think it’s great when you can see something happen and you are able to tell others why it worked that way.”
Sophomore Kayla Love said she liked the challenge of chemistry and that she was very interested in seeing how chemistry affected the world around her. Love, who has interned in the school’s agriculture department working with peanut hair, has her sights set on working for a pharmaceutical company once she graduates.
“I want to be able to look for new and innovative ways to help people,” Love, who came to Langston from Vallejo, CA, said.
A handful of freshmen chemistry majors have provided an infusion of youth to the department, including a pair of students who were influenced by high school teachers. Candice Pawnee from Guthrie High School said she had a teacher who was “very hands-on” when it came to teaching chemistry, which helped attract her attention.
Britani Vann said her older sister – who graduated from LU with a degree in chemistry – had a positive influence on her but said her chemistry teacher in high school was the one initially responsible for her interest in chemistry.
“I loved her, I loved the class, and I loved chemistry,” Vann said. “I was really interested in seeing how everything worked.”
One student was affected by something more personal. A type 1 diabetic, freshman Megan Bowlin from Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington High School said she was inspired to become a pharmacist based on the experiences in her own life.
Tiese Rand, a freshman from Mesquite, TX, said she had been considering biology as her major but changed her mind after participating in the Bridge program that allows students to take courses in the summer prior to starting college. She said she was fascinated with how things happened and chemistry was able to explain a lot of that.
“I really wanted to know how things like explosions happened,” Rand said.
With the growing number of female students in the chemistry department, the focus may turn from becoming the next Isaac Newton or the next Louis Pasteur or the next Alfred Nobel to another chemist with universal fame. Langston University could be home to the next Marie Curie.
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