Review: Teaching psychology in schools would encourage more girls into science.

Article by Marc Smith. The Guardian, Friday 8 February 2013 07.00 GMT.

The author of this article states that in order to have more women working in the field of science, we should, as a society, give more recognition to psychology in schools.

First, Smith says that young girls are outperformed by boys in most science subjects, except for psychology.

He says that data from the Joint Council for Qualifications shows that girls tend to have greater grades than boys in psychology courses. Also, 70% of the candidates for A-level psychology exams are girls. This gender difference hasn’t been explained.

But, the author claims that most of young woman don’t get the chance to take psychology courses in school. And, even girls are participating and succeeding in psychology, this happens to be a science that is not being understood by the general public and politicians.

Specifically, psychology is the only A-level science that currently is not included in the list of facilitating subjects (with the rejection by the Russell Group), and at the same time, the only one that attracts an important number of young women.

The author claims that “when opportunities arise to encourage girls into science the doors are well and truly slammed in their faces”. He concludes stating that the Russell Group list will discourage many young women from re-entering to the science field, and that way, the gender gap will increase.

Favourite?

The other day someone asked me which my favourite movie was. I couldn't answer right away. I think it’s difficult to me to define a certain "favourite" among the things i like, in the same way i can’t choose a "best friend". It’s unfair to compare them because they're all unique and i care about them all.

Going back to my friend's question, I tried to explain to her my opinion, but she wanted some kind of response anyway. So i told her that maybe I could name the last movie that I added to my mental “top ten” movie list. This movie is Millennium Actress, by the director Satoshi Kon.

Some of you may know that I really like japanese culture, and animated series and movies. So this film combines wonderfully these aspects. It also has an intriguing plot and a subtle and well constructed script. The animation is absolutely stunning, and the characters, even animated, can get you to empathize strongly with them.

Sadly, I can’t explain much of the plot, because i could spoil important details. But, basically, the story begins with a reporter who wants to find a famous classic movie actress who is now in her elderly years and has retired to live away from society. When he finds her, he gives her an object that she lost long ago. Then, we get a gorgeous and touching travel around her life and work.

If you even get the chance to see this movie, or any work from Satoshi Kon, i recommend you give it a chance. They usually contain striking animation and stories filled with the nightmares and dreams of very human characters.

Dream job

I'm coursing 4th year at university, so I’m starting to seriously think in my future job. In fact, just a few days ago we had a reunion with the teachers in charge of managing the 5th year process, in which we talked about the thesis, the courses, and the internship process.

I'm not very sure of what kind of job i will choose for this internship job, because it has to be a really strategic decision. But i know that, in the future, i would love to work in the educational field, as school psychologist, because i'd like to work helping kids develop and strengthening the educational institutions. Also, i'd love to participate in social-psychology researches and teach at the university.

I believe i could be good at these jobs because i have a little experience teaching at university and i’m planning on learning more about qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Finding a job in a school wouldn't be difficult, because nowadays the job offer is moderately varied and large. The big difficulty would be to have the magister or doctorate degree needed to teach at a university, which is my biggest goal right now.

2013 First Term

Hello from my new blog!

This is my last year as a psychology student. In the end of this year I will receive my  “Psychology Licentiate” degree. That’s why in the first term of this year I started taking courses more focused toward practice and less toward theory. I took this one course in which I had to test and diagnose a child in a hospital; it was my first real approach to work as a clinical psychologist. It was a huge challenge, but i think my partner and I made a good job.

Other course that I loved was Aikido. Aikido is a japanese martial art oriented to defence using the enemy force. I’ve always been interested in japanese culture, so I enjoyed what the teacher taught us about their customs and their spiritual world. I also had tons of fun learning moves and positions, but my favourite thing was to practice with the bokken: the japanese wooden sword, I felt like a real samurai!

Anyway, I hope that I can learn even more in this semester so I'll be more prepared to work as a psychologist in the “real” world.