We’ve all heard by now about the President of Harvard who spoke of the innate differences between boys and girls, and why boys are the ones who naturally lean toward science. I personally recall the only place I ever felt dumb during my education was when I was in math or science class. I proceeded to drop Physics 1 in order pick up Intro to Physics, and told my advisor I had done so because the physics teacher had mispronounced my last name. The truth was that I was scared. After some research, reading articles like “Decoding Why Few Girls Choose Science, Math” in the Washington Post, and reflecting on the three years I worked as an adult at an independent school, I wondered how the cause of girls and science was doing. And how were women helping to affect the future lives of female scientists? Were they finding the money to support their cause? I found my answer in Freeport, Maine, where Pam Erickson, a leader in experimental education, founded Coastal Studies for Girls.
Pam first got turned onto the idea of creating a semester abroad for girls when she discovered the Tall Ship Education Academy in San Francisco. Tall Ship gives high school girls time to immerse themselves in a summer or semester as part of the crew of an 82-foot sailing schooner. Between raising sails and rigorous class work, students embark upon a transformational voyage that helps prepare them for both college and life. Pam saw an article about Tall Ship, taped it to her wall, and kept looking at it over the years thinking, “What a cool thing.” She let the idea brew for eleven years until “the universe sprinkled its magic on my idea,” and found she was able to dream bigger to create her own program for girls.
There are about eight other semester abroad programs for girls, but Coastal Studies for Girls is the first residential program, on the coast of Maine, that focuses on science, technology, leadership, and the environment. And while most other programs focus on girls in their junior year in high school when they’re already on the college track, Coastal Studies for Girls only enrolls tenth grade girls. “We find that the girls at this age are like sea anemones,” Pam says from her office near a barn anticipating renovation. “We know it makes an impact on the girls before they make their college choices, and that the girl comes out of the program thinking, ‘I’m going to go for it to see what opportunities are out there for me,’ instead of being told what she can do.”
