THE KELLEYS

Six years ago, Kathleen Kelley, an accountant living in Randolph, New Hampshire, saw a video suggesting that teachers pay more attention to boys than to girls.

At first, she and her fellow viewers, all members of the American Association of University Women, and many of them teachers, found incredible the idea that many school curriculums ignore or stereotype females, that girls receive significantly less attention than boys, and that the gender gap in science hasn't declined and may be increasing. "We couldn't believe that these things went on," says Kelley, "let alone that any one of us contributed to them."

Having just given birth to her third child and first daughter (she has since given birth to another daughter), Kelley felt compelled to do something about it. With friends, she founded a mother-daughter mentoring program at a local junior high school.

"It's an hour a week I don't spend with my own kids," admits Kelley, "but it's an hour I can now devote to changing the culture in which my daughter will grow up." In the weekly program, volunteer mentors take the girls on field trips to talk to women in management positions. They hold workshops on household budgeting, decision making and critical thinking. They make sure to visit unconventional workplaces for women, including the lumber manufacturing facility operated by Kelley's husband, Mark.

Mothers are asked to attend the first six weeks of each session. To date, 135 girls and their moms have participated. "Some of the mothers have gone back to school or work," says Kelley, "which is a terrific message to give their daughters."

The mentoring program has made Kelley and her husband more vigilant of gender bias in their own home. "We try to watch television with them so we can give them a reality check on what they're seeing," she says. Mark's background in advertising makes the family discussions lively as they all examine stereotypes and unrealistic scenarios. "For instance, how does the woman who is shopping all the time get her money?"

The effects of challenging girls to do their best are guaranteed to be far-reaching, suggests Kelley. "By helping girls do well in school and become earning members of society, we improve the economic stability of our communities," she argues. "What better way to have a direct impact on your kids?"

RESOURCES

Girls Incorporated (120 Wall Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10005, Tel: 212-509-2000 Fax: 212-509-8708, E-mail: girlsincorporated@girls-inc.org) publishes training materials on ways to deal with gender bias in the classroom.

American Association of University Women (1111 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036; 800-326-2289) represents 150,000 college graduates and publishes a catalog of briefs on gender bias.