Build STEM Confidence
Building Students’ Confidence for Success in STEM Programs and Careers.
We have all read the statistics. Women make up half of the total U.S. college educated workforce today but hold only one quarter of the science and engineering jobs.
How do we build confidence?
Get girls involved in hands on STEM activities. These can be at home, school or camp. With each hands on STEM activity girls gain the confidence to say, “I made this”. What do we mean by hands on STEM? This can be Robotics and classic science experiments as well as Maker, the arts, crafts and cooking, all with STEM components. Cosmetics, fashion and perfume are also rooted in STEM skills.
Get girls involved with design challenge and innovation challenge activities. We believe that girls have a superpower in STEM Innovation…empathy. This allows girls to see the world through someone else’s eyes and identify a problem to be solved, an unmet need or a cool tool.
Give girls the opportunity to apply STEM to drive innovation. Kids are incredibly skilled innovative thinkers. We believe a key to building STEM success confidence is the opportunity to apply coding, web design, 3D print or VR to bring their innovation vision to life. Girls may not think of themselves as STEM strong or coders for example but using STEM as a tool to make their product idea a reality is a natural extension of the project.
Give girls the opportunity to collaborate and work in teams. Each girl’s strength or skill makes the team stronger. Women who support women are more successful and working in teams or collaborating on a STEM project builds those skills. The US Women’s Soccer team won the World Cup as a team, working together towards the same goal. Each player was an individual with their own look, ideas and background but when they step on the pitch they are a member of a team.
Give Girls the opportunity to see successful women in STEM jobs, in cool jobs or as CEO’s. Women accomplish amazing things! It’s our responsibility to highlight women in space, women working in sports, women in medicine, women in the arts, women leading major corporations and starting exciting organizations. We never know what will spark a curiosity to explore an interest that will grown to a future career.
Girls Take the Lead Global Innovation Challenge is free to participate. We launch the challenge and toolkit March 8, International Women’s Day. Learn More.