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Feb. 28--The Gender Chip Project is a chick flick of a different kind.
The documentary follows a group of young women -- all undergraduate students majoring in math, science and engineering at Ohio State University. At the heart of the Helen De Michiel film, to premiere Wednesday at the Wexner Center for the Arts, lie the challenges that the women face in preparing for careers in predominantly male fields. "It was an extraordinary experience," De Michiel said. The project, one of four video efforts commissioned by the center to document the Class of 2001 at OSU, was filmed during the sophomore, junior and senior years. "Slowly but surely, over time, we built an awareness and sensitivity of what they were going through," said De Michiel, based in San Francisco.
The obstacles range from the competition with male students to larger issues such as the meshing of careers with marriage and children.
The Gender Chip Project arrives as the nation continues to look at the quality of math and science education.
"Is America Flunking Science?" Time magazine asked in a Feb. 13 cover story.
According to a national survey released this month, American parents are generally satisfied with the amount of math and science that their children learn.
Only half of the students in public schools, meanwhile, view a strong grasp of math and science as important to their futures.
The findings contrast with the concern of scientists, public officials and business executives that the United States is falling behind its global competitors because of inadequate math and science education.
Despite the better balance in the biological sciences, women have long trailed men in math, engineering and physical sciences such as chemistry.
Civil-engineering student Jennifer Jones explains why she became an exception:
"I love concrete, steel and asphalt," she says in the documentary.
A welding Heather Smith steals one scene.
"I could never date anyone who wasn't an engineer," she says later.
Overt discrimination doesn't seem widespread, but other challenges remain, according to many folks connected with the project.
"There were doors that were closed to me and opportunities not realized because I was a woman," said Diane L. Foster, a member of the OSU engineering faculty who assisted with the effort.
"But because I've been part of a minority population (as a woman)," the 39-year-old said, "there also have been other opportunities presented to me."
In the film, math-and-psychology student Anna Han says:
"When I'm working on a project with men, I feel like I have to do more than they do. Especially in math, the guys always think they can do better than girls."
Joyce Durnford, a microbiologist with a doctorate who will participate in a Wednesday forum, was "gently discouraged from engineering" by a professor.
Today, at age 56, she works as a research leader at Battelle.
"I was often one of a minority of girls in my classes, but it never seemed to be a problem."
The movie, about an hour long, focuses primarily on five students: Jones, Smith, Han, Amanda Graf and Erin Tilling.
Others took part in the project, which included field trips and seminars with women in science and technology careers.
One issue stands out:
"There is a concern about the lifestyle for women: Can you balance a career and family life?" Graf said recently.
She graduated in 2001 with a double major in molecular genetics and psychology.
De Michiel had planned to complete the work by 2002 -- until the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack triggered a decline in funding for such independent filmmaking.
The pursuit was also expanded to become a national outreach effort, including www. genderchip.org.
"It took me about two more years before I could find funding to complete the project and turn it into something larger than what I originally anticipated," she said.
The total cost: about $200,000.
The Wexner Center didn't cut its funding, although its support amounted to less than half the budget. The OSU Alumni Association and Office of Academic Affairs, Ohio Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and National Science Foundation provided financial help, too.
This week, when they gather at OSU, the graduates are apt to compare notes.
Tilling, who majored in electrical engineering, worked in the field for a year but turned away from it, returning to school.
The 27-year-old teaches color theory, drawing and other courses at the Art Institute of Ohio in Cincinnati.
"I wasn't finding it (engineering) as fulfilling as I thought it would be," she said. "I did a lot of art in high school, . . . and it drew me back."
Smith, a doctoral candidate in engineering at OSU, works with Foster in coastal engineering.
Graf, who wants to become a pediatrician and researcher, will graduate in June from the College of Medicine.
And she is happy:
"At the moment, I'm waiting to figure out where I'm heading next."
bmayr@dispatch.com
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