Impact: Why it matters
This all matters for practical reasons. There is already a wage gap between men and women. Data shows us that 80% of future jobs require a STEM education, and workers in STEM fields earn double on average than other workers. When only 20% of the occupations in STEM fields are held by women, there is clearly a problem here.
It matters because women need to know that they are capable of earning a STEM degree in college, and young girls need to know that it is okay to want to build, create, and innovate. This field is not inherently biased towards either gender, however, as Debbie from GoldieBlox points out, by the time they reach college, boys already have an advantage in these fields because the toys they are given as children better prepare them for the kind of spacial skills that are so crucial in the mastering of engineering concepts.
It is time that we start to give girls--both in school and at home--the opportunity to build and create; to get dirty, to explore, and to pursue any field that interests them. Girls deserve role models and STEM fields deserve to have female perspectives.
It might however, also matter in a larger, more indirect way. In Jonathan Sterne's article "The Computer Race Goes to Class," he notes that getting people online does no good if they cannot control what they find when they get there. Perhaps if women and young girls can be further encouraged to enter into STEM fields, they can gain some control of the fields. I have a hope that if women are able to take control over some parts of technology especially, we can help transform the way women are portrayed using a top down approach. A girl can dream.
It matters because women need to know that they are capable of earning a STEM degree in college, and young girls need to know that it is okay to want to build, create, and innovate. This field is not inherently biased towards either gender, however, as Debbie from GoldieBlox points out, by the time they reach college, boys already have an advantage in these fields because the toys they are given as children better prepare them for the kind of spacial skills that are so crucial in the mastering of engineering concepts.
It is time that we start to give girls--both in school and at home--the opportunity to build and create; to get dirty, to explore, and to pursue any field that interests them. Girls deserve role models and STEM fields deserve to have female perspectives.
It might however, also matter in a larger, more indirect way. In Jonathan Sterne's article "The Computer Race Goes to Class," he notes that getting people online does no good if they cannot control what they find when they get there. Perhaps if women and young girls can be further encouraged to enter into STEM fields, they can gain some control of the fields. I have a hope that if women are able to take control over some parts of technology especially, we can help transform the way women are portrayed using a top down approach. A girl can dream.