Formula for Success

Ageneration ago, a typical science lab was something like a boys-only clubhouse. Few girls stepped inside, and most didn’t feel welcome. It was a gender bias that was part of the culture of the time and it was something science teacher Pauline Crowling knew all too well. So when she was hired in 1978, she made it her mission to get more girls involved in and excited about science. Crowling’s enthusiasm for the cause began during her days working for Texaco Express Incorporated. “Women were hired at lower pay and lower position,” said Crowling. “Six of us complained about it and within a year we were all promoted,” she said. “I was in that fight. My main concern was, let’s have men and women treated equally. My cause was equal pay for equal work.”

Overcoming the gender bias wasn’t easy though. “When I started at Trinity, no girls took AP Chemistry,” said Crowling. “I was teaching regular chemistry and physical science and when I took over AP Chemistry in 1984, everybody dropped the class except for “four fantastic boys,” Crowling recalled. “The students knew that first-year teachers make it hard,” she laughed.

Before long, Crowling had a loyal following among the student body, both boys and girls. “Mrs. Crowling impressed me right away,” said Mary Evans ’82, “because she left a career as a chemist at Texaco to teach chemistry. This meant that she really knew her field. She was passionate about teaching and she especially encouraged the girls to speak out. She also had, and still has, the gift of humor and the ability to laugh at her self,” said Evans. “This endeared her to us all.”

By 1993, there were an equal number of girls and boys in the class. Crowling recalled the courage it took to overcome the gender bias. “I was scared for the girls,” Crowling admitted. “But we fought against that prejudice. When one of the girls had a test grade equal to the boys, we were in tears.”

James Rhodenhiser ’80 recalled her enthusiasm for the subject and for her students. “Mrs. Crowling brought verve and energy to chemistry,” said Rhodenhiser, “and more than any other science teacher, she was comfortable expressing care and nurture of students in an empowering way,” he said. “She loves her subject, too. To avoid learning to think about chemistry,” said Rhodenhiser, “you had to actively resist her.”

Ellie Ericson ’05, now completing a master’s degree in Spanish language and literature at North Carolina State University, noted the experimental approach that Crowling took with teaching. “I loved taking chemistry at Trinity,” she said. “Being able to do as many experiments as we did made it real. I enjoyed her classes so much that I actually spent a semester during my senior year as the chemistry lab assistant.”

Since 1993, stories of Trinity female alumni who have gone on to pursue science in their careers have become more and more the norm. “My first female student, [Susan Brown ’87] the only girl in the class, is now a marine biologist,” said Crowling.

Leesa Witty Gregory ’93 went on to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tulane University followed by a

Science teacher Pauline Crowling with Ruth Blair Moyers ’14 (left) and Martha Georgallis ’14 (right) in the chemistry lab.

degree in law. “She was so engaged in the topics she taught,” recalled Gregory. “I remember how obvious it was that she loved chemistry, and that made it easier to be interested as a student.”

Rebecca Krey ’06, went to the College of William and Mary where she majored in neuroscience, studying the mechanics of breathing. Her work was published in Frontiers in Neural Circuits. She also presented her work at the Society for Neuroscience Conference in Chicago in 2010 and at the WM Undergraduate Research Symposium. She is now in her third year at Virginia Commonwealth University studying pediatrics.

Amy Linderman ’10 is in her second year at University of Virginia studying civil engineering. “We did seem to have a fairlylarge group of girls in my AP Chemistry class,” she said. “Her class was always one of my favorites…and I’ve been so thankful that Mrs. Crowling drove information into our heads, like mole conversions and chemical equation balances,” Linderman said. “I found myself using my memory of what she taught and the notes I took from her class to help me in my chemistry class in college.”

This year, Crowling’s chemistry classes are majority female. “The people who did it first made it okay,” said Crowling. “And with the advent of IB [International Baccalaureate], teachers overcame the idea [that science wasn’t for girls]. It’s neat to see the girls lost the idea too.”