As we celebrate the day and as we recognize the shoulders of the giants we stand on, it is also important for us all as parents, educators, mentors, business leaders, policymakers, and more to recognize that we are in a long game.
Research shows us that girls, at astoundingly young ages, across all socioeconomic backgrounds, continue to exclude themselves as “math people” or as “STEM people”. What does that do a few years later to a girl’s desire to participate in complex discussions grounded in data?
We need our girls and young women to bring their hearts and minds, their STEM skills, their people skills, and their humanity (all of which I would argue are in fact part of STEM skills) to these discussions. All real world, complex decisions need to involve all three categories.
Today, and every day this month (as we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month), here are some easy things you can do with the girls in your life as you help them develop their STEM mindsets and their growth mindsets:
- Watch a short video from our Girls and Young Women in STEM video collection. These are designed to integrate real world places, people, and more!
- Visit the Her STEMlens virtual exhibition
- Try your hand at the supplementary activities that go with Her STEMlens
- Notice the STEM that’s in your everyday environment and celebrate the multiple STEM moments that happen! Take a picture with your child, mark it up and share #HerSTEMlens question on social media for us all to be inspired by
- Tell her that she is a mathematician, a STEM person, an engineer, a scientist every day and highlight the things she does that fall into these categories
If we all continue to communicate to our girls and young women that their mindsets are growing each day and that their days are filled with STEM moments from the time they play soccer or cook to the time they garden, paint, or listen to music, we will be building a world filled with women who can lead with strength, compassion, and knowledge.
Dr. Koshi Dhingra has dedicated her career to STEM education and is passionate about having every child live up to their potential. Seeing a lack of girls and other underrepresented youth in STEM programs, she founded talkSTEM in 2015 to address the imbalance. She has a doctorate in science education from Teachers College, Columbia University, has years of experience teaching in graduate and undergraduate programs, and has held leadership roles in universities. She advises and collaborates with a broad range of educational institutions globally. Dr. Dhingra began her career teaching science in middle and high school in New York. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and two dogs.
Add comment