Inspire woman to undertake a STEM career since there are child.
WHAT IS STEM? STEM is a term which addresses to the academic discipline of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
The initiative launched by Kristy Grigsby wants to make STEM resources more accessible for girls. The rationale behind this challenge is to inspire 3-8 years old girls to change the world with the range of possibilities that Science, Technology, Engineering and Math can offer to them.
How?
Kristy Grigsby created a series of STEM Girls pictures books which are aimed at taking the little girls into a discovery journey of potential STEM fields and skills to make them considering these subjects in their academic career.
As every good initiative is born from Kristy direct experience as a mom of two ladies who are now engaged into STEM.
“Most girls do not have access to these resources until their teen years! Girls who are strong in math and science have little idea what to do with those skills – and likely do not know of their power to change the world through STEM! The STEM Girls book series is changing that. Our fun, engaging picture books for ages 3-8 are designed to plant the seed early, during the crucial years when children start to identify with roles and stereotypes”.
According to “Women and education in the EU” The relative underperformance of girls in mathematics at 15 years old is reflected later in their choices of fields of study in higher (tertiary) education. There are far fewer female than male graduates in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Women are more likely to choose fields such as education or the arts. This potentially leads to problems because feminisation of certain professions, such as teaching, can lead to reduced prestige of the profession and lower wages. The paper states that influence of gender stereotypes and conflict between the feminine gender role and the choice of certain fields, such as mathematics or physics, which are considered as male domains, and a lack of female role models in stereotypically male fields. Research on gender stereotypes has been particularly illuminating on the issue, because it has unveiled how much teachers, curricula and textbooks perpetuate gender stereotypes, rather than try to put a stop to them.
Are you a woman in STEM? Do you want to support Kristy Grigsby with her challenge, take action and tell her your story!
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