Key Learnings from the Girls Coalition Funder Briefing

This morning was the first Girls Coalition funder briefing, "Pathways to STEM Careers: Where are the Girls?" Many thanks to our panelists and sponsors for making this event fantastic!

For those who were unable to attend this morning, we wanted to be sure to share some key insights that were shared by our experts.

Stats and Facts:

* Women make up only 25% of the over 5 million scientists in the United States. Women of color make up just 2% of that group.

* Women account for more than half of graduate students in some science fields.  In 2006, women made up 76% of graduate students in psychology, 56% in biological sciences, and 54% in social sciences.

 

* In others, particularly hard sciences and engineering, women lag far behind. Women accounted for just 23% of graduate students in engineering and 25% in computer science in 2006.

Ways to Take Action:

1. Help girls get over the "Yuck! Factor" of science: Provide girls with opportunities to engage in science early and often--and to get dirty while doing it.

 

2. Take a Team Approach: Science in schools is often taught as a solitary manner. Research on best practices in science education demonstrate that taking a team approach is more effective. Engage girls in collaborative efforts on science projects and experiments.

 

3. Help girls see science in everything: Science is all around us and is part of everything we do! Help girls to think about how their day-to-day lives connect with science.

 

4. Science as a "helping profession": Girls report that they want to be in careers that help people. Help girls see the ways in which STEM careers are helping people by creating solutions to problems, medicines and new technologies.

5. Create a pathway to higher education: Colleges are rethinking their recruitment practices in engaging girls in science. Work with your local higher education partner to connect girls with science resources on a local campus. Seeing other female students in action help girls to feel more confident about their future in the sciences.

 

6. It's never too early! Many girls decide they are interested in STEM careers in ELEMENTARY school. Mish Michaels saw her first hurricane and decided she wanted to be a meteoroligist in grammar school.

7. No one program can be all things to all girls. Work with local agencies in your community to identify areas of strength and build collaborative partnerships to meet the unique needs of individual girls!

Comments

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[Term Papers]

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