In the fortuitous way that things seem to often happen in my life, I spent a fabulous Saturday morning with my daughter at a free event designed to spark girls’ interest in all things STEM related, then 24 hours later stumbled across a “Women Role Models” video on We the Geeks that reinforced all of my strong feelings about this topic.
We the Geeks is a series of Google Hangouts sponsored by the White House. The purpose is “to highlight the future of science, technology, and innovation here in the United States. ”
In the latest episode, “Women Role Models,” several female guests are interviewed (you can see the guest list below), and give their insight on how to encourage more girls to pursue scientific careers. Many of the guests mention how influential their teachers and teachers were in stimulating their interest in science. What I heard repeated several times, though, was how important the excitement of the adult mentors can be. One guest said, “If you have an excited teacher, you’re going to be excited about it.” Another guest advised that parents should “learn with the kids… stay excited with them.” The latter point is key because, as she pointed out, if parents show that they are intimidated by science and math, that “trickles down” to the children.
Some of the other past episodes of We the Geeks have included: “Celebrating Black History Month,” “Student Startups,” and “Don’t Be Bored, Make Something.” I haven’t watched any of the other videos, yet, but they all look pretty intriguing.
(Here is a link to a collection of videos to encourage girls in STEM from Amy Borovoy at Edutopia.)
Thanks for sharing those resources. In my past role as a technology and equity specialist where I did a lot of research and programming on girls and tech, I found that girls who found their way into non traditional programs were often empowered by their dads to use tools, hunt, or other activities that not only encouraged them to seek out STEM activities, but also gain confidence needed to feel successful in these activities.
I agree that dads can play an important part in this – but more and more moms can also create those opportunities, too!