©2005 by Claire Boylan

By examining the departments of mathematics at the Big Ten universities, one can see that there are very few Chicana and Latina professors on the faculties of university mathematics departments. Actually, of the 1,002 professors of mathematics across these schools, only three have Spanish surnames. One may wonder why the involvement of Chicanas and Latinas in mathematics and other science-related fields is so low. Taking a closer look at the programs, one can see that many factors contribute to this issue. Chicanas and Latinas face many roadblocks in their pursuit of careers in mathematics or science. These include cultural barriers for women wanting to achieve an education, gender-related issues with mathematics, and general mathematical barriers. Because the films Stand and Deliver, Real Women Have Curves , and Mi Vida Loca are based on true stories, the movies illustrate real difficulties for Chicanas and Latinas in their endeavor for success in the field of mathematics or education in general.

In the film Stand and Deliver , there are many vivid examples of cultural barriers that young Chicanas and Latinas face in their pursuit of education in general and advanced mathematics in particular. Stand and Deliver was produced in 1988. It depicts a true story of an inspiring and motivating teacher, Jaime Escalante, who successfully taught Advanced Placement Calculus at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. The film begins with Escalante entering Garfield High on the first day of school, enthusiastic about his first teaching assignment. However, when Escalante arrives, he is surprised to find that he will be teaching mathematics instead of computer courses, since the school had run out of funding for the computer program. This is just the beginning of his spiraling experience. After Escalante discovers that his students lack basic math skills, he dedicates himself to developing a program for these students to learn and excel in upper-level mathematics. After meeting with the faculty, Escalante decides to teach everything from trigonometry to calculus during an intense school year and summer instruction.

Several young Chicanas and Latinas in this particular math class decide that they too want to work hard to eventually take the AP Calculus test to receive college credit. Unfortunately, three of these young women struggle with familial and cultural obstacles. One young woman named Ana is shy but quite dedicated to doing her best in Escalante’s math class. She hopes to go to medical school. However, at the end of class one day, Ana tells Escalante that it is her last day. Her father does not see the value of her education and wants her to help with the family restaurant. Escalante feels awful that his student is forced to give up her education and her opportunity to go to college, so he and his wife go to Ana’s family’s restaurant for dinner. There, he has a chance to speak with Ana’s father. Escalante tells him that Ana can be the first person in her family to graduate from high school and go to college. Ana’s father sharply disagrees and explains to Escalante that Ana will work for the family business like her mother, sisters, and brother. Furthermore, he predicts that if Ana went to college, she would get pregnant and not finish. The two men argue, and the scene closes with Escalante explaining that if Ana got the opportunity to go to college, she could return home with knowledge of how to improve the family business. In this instance, Ana is forced to confront her father and the traditions of her family and culture in hopes of changing his opinion about her aspirations for a higher education.

Claudia, another young woman in Escalante’s math class, also faces cultural barriers when describing to her mother her calculus class and the extra time she will need to commit to the class after school and on Saturdays. Calculus excites Claudia, but her mother responds to her proposal by saying, “I hope this is not an excuse to stay out all hours. Boys don’t like it if you’re too smart.” Then Claudia says, “Mom, I’m doing this so I don’t have to depend on some guy the rest of my life.”1 Similar to Ana’s situation, Claudia has a difficult time making her mother understand the importance of this math class and of her education in general. Claudia also has to confront a cultural barrier to show that a woman can be smart and still be liked.

Finally, one more young woman who is taking Escalante’s class struggles with cultural and familial barriers in a different manner. This woman has difficulty studying and doing the homework for Escalante’s class due to her role in her family. There is a scene in the film where this young woman is making a lunch for her father, who is going to work a graveyard shift. She packs his lunch, sees him off, puts several younger siblings to bed, and finally sits down to start her math homework. At this moment her mother arrives home from a long day of work. Her mother lies down on the couch to try to relax and asks her to turn off the light. This young woman obeys her mother, but in their small house she has nowhere else to study. She, too, is forced to overcome her familial situation in order to achieve success in her math class.

Similar to the three women mentioned above, in the film Real Women Have Curves, the central character, Ana, faces certain cultural and familial barriers in her pursuit of a college education.2Real Women Have Curves centers on a young Chicana from Los Angeles. After graduating from high school in Beverly Hills, she desperately would like to attend college; however, this is definitely not the traditional path for women in her family. Following her high school graduation, her mother decides that Ana will work at her sister’s dressmaking factory, where her mother also works. Ana has no say in this decision. In the film, a teacher from Ana’s high school comes to their home to encourage Ana’s parents to allow her to apply for college. Ana’s mother explains that Ana does not need to go to college to learn because she will teach Ana everything Ana needs to know. Ana is devastated but eventually turns in an application for Columbia University to her teacher without her parents’ permission. While working at the dressmaking factory, Ana tells her female co-workers that women should have thoughts and ideas of their own. The older and traditional women smile and roll their eyes at this comment, which seems incorrect to them. Towards the end of the film, Ana finds out that she has been accepted to Columbia University. Her teacher returns once more to her home and tries to reason with her parents. Her father does not say much, but her mother makes Ana feel like she is breaking up the family. Ana would have to leave Los Angeles and go across the country to New York, which makes her mother very upset. Her mother also tries to make her feel guilty for going away to school by bringing up her elderly grandfather who she would be leaving behind, maybe never to see again. Ana is torn between her love for and loyalty to her family and her burning desire for higher education. She does not know what to do. Eventually, she talks with her father and grandfather, who both give her their blessing and best wishes as she embarks on her college career. However, as she leaves for the airport, she tries to say goodbye to her mother and receive her blessing, but that does not happen. Her father and grandfather drive her to the airport and see her off to her new life. This film is quite moving because Ana is forced to confront the traditional roles of women in her culture. After achieving academic success in high school, she knows she is capable of more. The most difficult part for her is convincing her family of the importance of education.

A third film, Mi Vida Loca, a story about a group of young Chicanas and Chicanos living in Echo Park, California, shows the day-to-day difficulties and perils of surviving in a gang. 3 It does not appear that any of the main characters have “honest” jobs; a few of them are drug dealers. Also, none of them go to or have completed high school, and two of the central characters, Sad Girl and Mousy, are single mothers. These two young women were best friends until they both ended up with children from the same father. The two mothers do not work or go to school. They completely depend on their children’s father to support them. He happens to be a drug dealer who gets shot early in the film. These various aspects of the gang make their lives quite complicated, and they have very little knowledge of ways to better their situation. Later in the film, another Chicana in the gang is released from prison. She returns to the gang with a somewhat new perspective. She tells the other girls, who think she is crazy, that while she was serving time, she learned that she needs to think of the future. She also tells her friends that computers are the key to that future. When she returns home, she starts looking through the paper for a job. She knows that she can better her and her daughter’s future after time in prison. When she rekindles an old romance, she tells the man that she does not want to depend on anybody but herself. She leaves his house and wants to start a life for herself where she will support her daughter.

The Chicanas and Latinas in these three films live in urban areas of California. However, they are not the only ones facing cultural barriers to education. The lifestyle of immigrant farm workers in California presents a similar barrier. In Mexican Workers and American Dreams: Immigration, Repatriation, and California Farm Labor, 1900-1939, historian Camille Guerin-Gonzales writes, “While Mexican immigrants often turned to the education of their children as a way to improve their position in American society, this proved especially difficult.” 4 She describes how, while many parents “hoped that their children would be able to move out of agriculture work through education, necessity forced families to enlist the aid of their children during the school year.” She cites an example of a young boy who picked fruit in southern California and went to junior high school during the winter. He did not think he would go to high school because, “as he told an interviewer, ‘it costs too much money and anyway I have to help my father.’ Farm-worker families required the labor of all able members to survive.” 5 This obligation to contribute to the family income surely influences the importance placed on education for Chicanas and Latinas of subsequent generations. Just as the girls in the films were needed in the family restaurant and dressmaking shop, the rural Chicano and Latino children are needed to work with their families in agriculture. Their dreams of an education are often lost to culture and family.

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Bureau of the Census verify the anecdotes from the three films and the above example. It is important to note is that when the U.S. Department of Commerce conducts the census, they do not separate Chicanos and Latinos. Instead they group all Chicanos, Latinos, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and such under one category, Hispanic. According to the statistics regarding the educational attainment of Hispanic women in the United States from the year 1970 to the year 2002, the percentage of high school graduates increased, though not by a large percentage. Difficult cultural and familial barriers found in the films discussed above could explain these findings. 6 The percentage of Hispanic women who have graduated from high school or gone on to more schooling has increased from 34.2 percent in 1970 to 57.9 percent in 2002. Additionally, the percentage of Hispanic women who have graduated from college has increased, but not by a large amount. Only 4.3 percent of all Hispanic women in the United States graduated from college in 1970, and 11.2 percent of all Hispanic women graduated from college by 2002.

In each of the three films, the young women depicted were from various parts of California. The most recent census, in the year 2000, collected statistics that categorize California’s Hispanic women’s level of educational attainment. 7 Of Hispanic women, 28.9 percent completed less than a ninth grade education, and 21.3 percent finished their education somewhere between ninth and twelfth grade. Also, 21.2 percent graduated from high school, and 17.8 percent of Hispanic women attended some college, but did not obtain a degree. Only 4.1 percent went on to complete an associate’s degree, while 4.6 percent of Hispanic women obtained a bachelor’s degree. Finally, only 2.1 percent of Hispanic women in California received a graduate or professional degree in the year 2000. These statistics strengthen the stories of those young women who struggled against different obstacles in their quest for an education. Ana in Real Women Have Curves represents one of the 21.2 percent who graduated from high school in California. She also dreamed of being one of the few to get a college degree. One can see that with such a low percentage of Hispanic women receiving college degrees, Ana, and others like her, struggled and paved the way for Chicanas and Latinas aspiring for a higher education.

As they pursue higher education in math and science, Chicanas and Latinas face low expectations from virtually everyone involved in their education, often their teachers and school administrators. These low expectations go hand-in-hand with poor schools for Chicanas and Latinas. It appears that if experts doubt student capabilities, many times they provide poor or untrained teachers and inferior or outdated equipment.

The film Stand and Deliver includes many examples of this pessimistic attitude. During a faculty meeting at Garfield High School, teachers and administrators discuss the school’s low test scores. Raquel Ortega, the chairwoman of the math department, says, “I’m the last person to say that this math department couldn’t improve, but if you want high test scores, start by changing the economic level of this community...You can’t teach logarithms to illiterates. Look, these kids come to us with barely a seventh grade education. There isn’t a teacher in the room who isn’t doing everything he possibly can.” 8 Ortega, who herself may be Chicana or Latina, implies that the low economic level of the students is the main reason for the low test scores of the school, and that there is nothing they as teachers can do to improve the students’ socioeconomic situations. Later in the film, Jaime Escalante tells the principal and the other teachers at another staff meeting that he wants to teach calculus the following year. The principal laughs and says, “Boy, that’s a jump.” His statement is quickly followed by Ortega rolling her eyes and saying, “That’s ridiculous! They haven’t even had trig or math analysis. Our kids can’t handle calculus! We don’t even have the books!” 9 Once again, Ortega and the principal are unwilling to even consider the possibility that their students, mainly Chicanos and Latinos, could learn calculus or excel in mathematics. To the average viewer, these two figures on the staff represent the norm with respect to the educational experiences of Chicanas and Latinas.

Stand and Deliver also expands the theme that low expectations excuse low-quality schools. Many teachers at Garfield High School are teaching a subject they are not qualified to teach. One mathematics teacher becomes a friend of Jaime Escalante. In the beginning of the film,when Escalante asks the teacher what he was hired to teach, the teacher answers physical education and health. However, due to funding and lack of qualified teachers, this man teaches mathematics. He jokes with Escalante about how he is often quite nervous because he does not know the material he needs to teach. The students in the math classes taught by this man, whose specialty is physical education, are at a clear disadvantage and do not receive the education that they deserve in attending a public high school in the United States. This example is just one of many cases of faculty juggled around in order to fill teacher vacancies at Garfield High School. Another, more important, example occurs in Escalante’s math class. A week before the AP Calculus examination, Escalante excuses himself while teaching a night class, goes into the hall, and collapses from a heart attack. Escalante goes to the hospital for several days, and the school needs to find a substitute teacher for his AP Calculus class. The music teacher is the only teacher available to substitute for Escalante. He seems quite uncomfortable with the idea, most likely because he is not qualified or prepared to teach calculus.

Another example that sheds light on this issue from the film Stand and Deliver occurs when Jaime Escalante tries to convince the faculty members that the students at Garfield High School can learn and excel in upper-level subjects. At the end of one meeting, Escalante says, “Students will rise to the level of expectations.” This statement is in contrast with the attitude of the majority at the meeting. Escalante, unlike the others, believes that these students can achieve success. Later in class, Escalante explains this attitude to his students when he says, “You already have two strikes against you. There are some people in this world who will assume you know less than you do because of your name and your complexion, but math is the great equalizer.” 10 Escalante, unlike Ortega, has faith that if his students work hard, they can do anything that anybody else can do.

Toward the end of the film, Ortega again displays her reservations about the potential achievement of the students at Garfield High School. After taking the Advanced Placement Calculus examination, all of Escalante’s students passed, but all had similar or the same errors. These similarities caused the Educational Testing Service to suspect cheating by the students. When Escalante asks Ortega if she thought the students had cheated, she replies by accusing Escalante of putting the kids under a lot of pressure, saying they would do anything to please him. She does not directly answer his question, but she probably believes that they cheated. Her response signals the viewer that she does not have confidence that the students all could have passed the examination. Escalante is quite frustrated that the scores of his students are being investigated, so he decides to confront the agents from the Educational Testing Service to talk about the situation. Escalante says to the two agents, “Those scores would have never been questioned if my students didn’t have Spanish surnames and come from barrio schools.” 11 When the agents do not respond, Escalante storms out of the room. He feels that, once again, his students have been slighted solely because they are Chicano or Latino.

Similar to the attitudes of teachers and administrators, other prominent figures in society have low expectations for Chicanas and Latinas. A striking instance of this sentiment occurred after the making of the film Stand and Deliver , when the first President George Bush visited Garfield High School. After the overwhelming success of Escalante’s students and the continuing success of other students, the school’s academic achievement level increased and, on average, it began to send 70 percent of its mainly Chicano and Latino students to college. An apparently oblivious President Bush commented, “You don’t have to go to college to be a success…We need the people who run the offices, the people who do the hard physical work of our society.” 12 By this quick statement, President Bush revealed his attitude toward Chicanos and Latinos. He demonstrated where he felt Chicanos and Latinos are valued in society, which for him was clearly not in an academic realm. This incident speaks for itself. When your president projects low expectations in the face of your high achievement, continuing to strive for excellence is difficult.

In addition to the low expectations problem and other cultural barriers for Chicanas and Latinas, the simple fact that they are women is another central obstacle in the world of hard sciences. In the last thirty years, there have been many studies and publications discussing the gender gap for women entering math and science fields. Instead of focusing on biology, which many researchers used to think caused the male-female differences in math and science, researchers are now focusing on the child’s social environment and how it may influence math and science achievement. According to the National Network for Child Care, “Very early on, boys are given the chance to tinker with toys or objects (for example, building blocks, Legos, racing cars, and simple machines) that involve many of the principles inherent in math and science. Girls often lack these experiences, so they enter math and science classrooms feeling insecure about their abilities. Girls then begin to believe they cannot do math and science as well as boys.” In addition to the relationship between children’s toys and confidence, the first talking Barbie exclaimed, “Math class is tough!” 13 For many young girls who play with Barbie, or even hear Barbie say that phrase, the idea that women are not able to do mathematics could be reinforced, contributing to young girls’ lack of confidence in math- and science-related classes. Barbie’s thoughts reflect cultural stereotypes about gender and education.

Additionally, the role of the teachers, the parents and the textbooks is an important contributing factor. Many teachers may be unaware of their own biases, but studies show that overall, teachers favor boys over girls. According to Myra Sadker, professor of education at the American University, “When it comes to math and science, you see some of the worst problems. Teachers hold very different expectations for girls and boys in the classroom. Boys are more central in the classroom. They receive more teacher attention and more questions, and when a boy makes a mistake, the teacher will say, ‘Try harder; I know you can get it right!’ Girls simply don’t get that kind of encouragement.” 14 Similarly, studies indicate that parents “are willing to let their daughters drop out of math class when the going gets tough. With sons, however, the same parents encourage persistence.” 15 According to Dr. Catherine Krupnick of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, “Most math textbooks are written as if the female sex simply does not exist,” which could also unknowingly contribute to the lack of confidence or interest in mathematics by women. 16 Unfortunately for Chicanas and Latinas, these subtle cues could play an influential role in their interest, confidence, and pursuit of a math- or science-related field.

In order to close this gender gap in the hard sciences, educators are trying “to make math and science accessible, equitable and exciting to all students.” 17 In addition, parents need to encourage and promote each child’s interest in mathematics and science. Though improvements in education have been made to aid females in mathematics, “in 1995, a mere 17 percent of engineering master’s degrees and only 31 percent of all science and engineering degrees were awarded to women.” 18 Another interesting related statistic is that “while women make up 46 percent of the overall labor force, women are only 16 percent of the science and engineering workforce.” Additionally, “women receive over half of all bachelor’s degrees awarded, but only one-fourth of those are in natural science and engineering.” 19

Another factor that contributes to the underrepresentation of Chicanas and Latinas in math and science fields is the lack of Chicano/a and Latino/a role models in those fields. Even though mathematics has been a male-dominated field, throughout history there have been young women who have overcome this gender barrier and studied mathematics. Coincidentally, the majority of these women who are remembered for paving the way for other female mathematicians had the presence of a math-related role model in their lives to follow. Several examples might best illustrate this point.

Hypatia, born in 370, is the first well-known female mathematician. Hypatia was the daughter of Theon, who was the director of the University of Alexandria and a mathematician. Her father was a great influence in Hypatia’s pursuit and focus of her education. Theon, who directed her studies, wanted Hypatia to be the “perfect human being.” 20 After finishing her education, she was asked to teach at the university where her father was the director. She taught geometry, astronomy, and algebra. Unlike Ana from the film Stand and Deliver, whose father did not initially see the value of her education, wanting her to drop out of school and work at the family restaurant, Hypatia’s father felt that education was of utmost importance.

Maria Agnesi (1718-1799) was born into a wealthy family in Italy. Similar to Hypatia, Maria’s father was a mathematician and a professor at the University of Bologna. Her parents were quite encouraging, and she was able to discuss mathematics and philosophy with intellectuals from around the world by the time she was an adolescent. Due to the influence of her family, she chose to lead what was seen as a rather non-traditional lifestyle in her pursuit of math analysis. 21

Caroline Herschel was born in 1750 in Hanover, Germany. She, too, was influenced to study mathematics by her family. While keeping house for her brother William, Caroline began to study accounting and soon became interested in William’s research in astronomy. The two began to work together as a team, but when William died, Caroline continued to make contributions in astronomy. She was awarded a Gold Medal of Science on her ninety-sixth birthday by the King of Prussia. Like the young woman from the film Stand and Deliver, Caroline Herschel had many obligations to her family, especially to her brother. Even though both women experienced obstacles, Caroline’s brother and Escalante’s encouragement empowered these two women to excel in mathematics. 22

In a similar way, Ada Lovelace, born in 1815, also had an interest in pursuing mathematics due to a familial role model. Ada’s mother was a mathematician, whose nickname was “the Princess of Parallelograms.” 23 Ada was influenced by her mother’s friends who were also mathematicians. And even though she never attended a formal school, she became a famous mathematician. Unlike Ana from the film Real Women Have Curves , who had to battle her familial traditions in order to attend college, Ada had the support of her mother in her pursuit of an education.

A final example is Sofia Kovalevskaya, who was born in 1850 in Moscow. 24 She had a keen interest in mathematics due to an influential role model. Sofia became interested in mathematics by listening to her Uncle Peter talk about the subject. Her father also encouraged her and provided her with tutors for algebra, geometry and calculus. She, too, became an accomplished mathematician.

If Chicanas and Latinas do not have prominent role models in math and science to inspire them, who are the well-known role models, and what makes them intriguing to young Chicanas and Latinas? In what fields do these famous Chicanas and Latinas work? These questions can be readily answered by the article “10 Fierce, Young Latinas Guaranteed to Inspire You” in the March 2004 issue of Latina magazine. A few outstanding Latinas mentioned in the article include: Celeste Troche, a Paraguayan golfer and the only Latina rookie on the 2004 Ladies Professional Golf Association tour; Nina Marie Martinez, a “bright new literary talent”; Maria Lya Ramos, an activist leader; Jossie Perez, an opera diva; Maria Antonia Berrios, Cindy Montanez and Diana Reyna, politicians; and Susana Mercedes, a fashion designer. 25 Several of these women attribute the pursuit of their careers to the influence of their family. Josie Perez talks about the influence of her father and his passion for classical music. Because of his encouragement, she began to love opera music at a very young age. Maria Antonia Berrios was also influenced by her father, who in 1982 was the first Latino to be elected to the Illinois state House of Representatives. His success influenced Berrios to enter politics. Similarly, Cindy Montanez’s family also inspired her to pursue a career in politics, and they organized her campaign. Today, she is a legislator in the California State Assembly.

Not only do many of these women have familial role models who guided their choice of career, but also many of them come from what one might consider “ordinary” backgrounds, and they hope to improve the lives of future Chicanas and Latinas. These women aspire to be successful but also want to remember who they are and where they came from. Susana Mercedes, a fashion designer, finds her designs in Guatemala, sometimes when shopping with her family. Her work always includes Latin American influences. 26 Similarly, when Diana Reyna describes her politics, she says, “‘When I represent my community, I’m not dealing with strangers. I’m dealing with the people I grew up with down the block.’” 27 Since these Chicanas and Latinas are in the spotlight, their pride, bonds to their homelands, and connection to common people make these women excellent role models for young Chicanas and Latinas.

There are different social and cultural reasons why Chicanas and Latinas are not prominent in mathematics and science. Contemporary movies like Stand and Deliver, Real Women Have Curves, and MiVida Loca provide strong anecdotal evidence that Chicanas and Latinas have real disadvantages when it comes to these areas. They have a family culture that stresses other measures of success at the expense of formal education. They have cultural barriers that are also socioeconomic. Stereotyped as low-achieving immigrants, they often get stuck in poor schools that match the low expectations the rest of society has of them.

Real, historical examples verify these film anecdotes. A growing number of, but still disproportionately few, Chicanas and Latinas achieve a higher education. In her study of California agriculture, Camille Guerin-Gonzales substantiates these statistics from the historical perspective. She demonstrates the main premise related to the barriers to higher education among Latina/os; that is, from early on until today, the welfare of the family has taken precedence over everything else. Besides ethnic cultural barriers, there are gender cultural barriers as well that specifically extend to mathematics and science.

Nonetheless, Chicanas and Latinas are raising their status in many fields. These fields include the arts, politics, social activism and design. Their achievements have an element common to female mathematicians throughout history—role models, who show possibility, promote value, and excite passion. It is conceivable that at this time and place there may be Chicanas and Latinas being mentored in the field of mathematics. It is interesting to note the example of the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México: the mathematics faculty at this Mexico City school is 28 percent female. 28

1. Stand and Deliver, edited by Ramón Menéndez and written by Ramón Menéndez and Tomas Musca, 104 min., Warner Studios, 1988, Videocassette.
2. Real Women Have Curves, directed by Patricia Cardoso, 86 min., HBO Home Video, 2002, DVD.
3. Mi Vida Loca, directed by Allison Anders, 96 min., HBO Studios, 1993, DVD.
4. Camille Guerin-Gonzales, Mexican Workers and American Dreams: Immigration, Repatriation, and California Farm Labor, 1900-1939 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994), 69.
5. Ibid., 69-70.
6. United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003 ( Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2003).
7. “ Counting California: Data Extraction Results: Sex By Age By Educational Attainment For the Population 18 Years and Over,” http://countingcalifornia.cdlib.org/sas-bin/broker?_program=prd.calcube.sas&study=sf4200&varMtx=Pct65Hsf4200&dtbl=PCT65H&geo=state.
8. Stand and Deliver, 1988.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. “Ronald Reagan – The Bonzo Years, 1988,” http://www.quickchange.com/Reagan/1988.html.
13. National Network for Child Care, “Math, Science, and Girls: Can We Close the Gender Gap?,” http://www.nncc.org/Curriculum/sac52_math.science.girls.html.
14. Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America, produced/directed by the American Association of University Women, 18 min., American Association of University Women, 1991, Videocassette.
15. National Network for Child Care, “Math, Science, and Girls.”
16. Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America.
17. National Network for Child Care, “Math, Science, and Girls.”
18. NAESP, “Closing the Gap for Girls in Math-Related Careers,” http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contented=474&action=print.
19. Ibid.
20. Diane Farquhar and Lynn Mary-Rose, Women Sum It Up (Christchurch, New Zealand: Hazard Press Limited, 1989), 11-12.
21. Ibid., 16-18.
22. Ibid., 19-20.
23. Ibid., 25-27.
24. Ibid., 28-29.
25. Carolina Aguilera, “Mujeres on the Verge: 10 Fierce Young Latinas Guaranteed to Inspire You,” Latina (March 2004): 94-99.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, “ Departamento Académico de Matemáticas,” http://matematicas.itam.mx/facultad.html.

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