It’s time for comprehensive education reform that truly makes a difference in the way that our children learn lessons not only about, but from history.

One of the biggest changes that we can make to improve our education system in terms of curriculum is to feature more women in almost all areas of education. Women’s contributions in literature, science, and history are all under-emphasized or skipped over in our kids’ schools, and our kids grow up believing that men are responsible for most of the important developments over the last two hundred years. By the end of the 20th century in the United States, only 10% of patents were awarded to women. Today, almost everyone in the developed world carries a cell phone with them- the disposable cell was first invented by Randice Lisa Altschul. The world's first antifungal antibiotic, the CPR dummy that most medical professionals train with, the home diabetes test, some groundbreaking petroleum refining processes, leukemia fighting drugs, and x-ray technology were all invented by women- but high school seniors could likely only name Marie Curie from that list. Because we teach our children that men make the most important contributions to society, our sons and daughters repeat those lessons. Women are less likely to apply for patents; to pursue technology development because society has taught them that they do not belong with the others who belong in that group. When women do pursue new inventions, they have historically been victims of their fathers, husbands, and brothers- who claimed the inventions as their own and went down in history as creators of a new technology. Sybilla Masters is a great example the inventor of a new method for turning corn into processed cornmeal, her husband holds the patent.

Likewise, our history textbooks and educational system focus on the contributions of an almost entirely white (male) group. There are “token” individuals of color included, largely because their contributions to certain historical events are too big to be ignored- think Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. The contributions of incredibly important individuals of color are disregarded as unimportant- so much so that my liberal arts college offers a Western Civilization course that focuses on seeing history from the viewpoint of those who “lost” in the past. Everything is taught from a Western point of view, and our children grow up ignorant of the fact that not every historical event or invention is rooted in Western culture. We can thank the Chinese for gunpowder, the compass, paper, and the early printing devices that make books and newspapers possible today. People of color invented air conditioning, elevators, and fire extinguishers- but the inventions that we’re taught to value are the light bulb, the telephone, and basically everything else “invented” by the Founding Fathers.

Adding women and people of color to our history textbooks has another benefit: it will encourage our sons and daughters to proactively learn about these individuals. It’s no surprise that when historical figures are presented in an intriguing way, students will go out of their way to read biographies or other texts about those figures. Textbooks, after all, are operating with limited space and it’s impossible to offer comprehensive coverage of every figure in history worth mentioning. Instead, we should make it a priority to include women and people of color in our educational system whenever possible and relevant, encouraging our students to learn more about these historical figures on their own time. With more women and people of color in our textbooks, our children can see role models who look like them and come from the same cultural backgrounds. That’s incredibly important, and can motivate children to pursue careers or life paths that they may have previously believed off limits. Generations of children can become more successful than ever before, once they see that those paths are open to them.