e event begins, we set up three long tables full of tantalizing objects for use in their creations: string, wheels, cups, hangers, books, dominos, plates, and more. When girls first enter the room, they light up. “Do we get to use all of that?” “Is that for us to build with?” Getting to say “Yes!” is one of the best parts of my job. This kind of fun, kinesthetic engagement allows girls to experience firsthand what it’s like to be an engineer, and that firsthand experience is proven to increase their interest far more than just reading about it ever could.
For most girls, however, “fun” isn’t enough. As a colleague of mine often says, “We could take all the girls to a waterpark and they would have a great time, but they wouldn’t keep signing up for Girl Scouts year after year, because that experience is not meaningful to them.” The same GSRI study shows that girls crave meaningful experiences. They want to help others. They want to make the world a better place. In fact, 94% of girls interested in STEM agree that “helping people” is important to their career choice. Too often, adults fail to help girls understand how STEM can make a positive difference, which likely accounts for more than a few promising girls abandoning interest in STEM.
At Girl Scouts River Valleys, we aim to weave real-world problems (and solutions!) into our programming. Whether it’s learning about water conservation, creating prototype robotic assistive technology, or building a tiny home to donate to an organization that can use it—no, seriously, our girls are going to build a house at construction engineering camp this year—girls get more excited about STEM when they see its real-world applications.
Is She Learning the Right Skills?
As a middle school girl, I was obsessed with Charles Darwin—his work, biographies, sketches…anything I could get my hands on. He was not, however, a role model. He felt too mythical, too towering in his singular genius. I could not see myself in that kind of figure. It didn’t help that, like most so-called “geniuses,” he was a man.
Unfortunately, this narrative of the “singular genius” is how too many of us learn about the history of scientific progress, and promoting an unattainable, idealized image that few girls can relate to may hold girls back from pursuing STEM. Scientists, engineers, and programmers are human beings, and they had to learn, work hard, and make lots and lots of mistakes. At Girl Scouts, you don’t need to be a “genius” to be good at STEM. Instead, we focus on developing skills that real STEM professionals use every day. We teach girls process-oriented thinking and how to work collaboratively.
More than any one math formula or programming language, girls need to know how to ask questions, break problems into smaller pieces, design and build collaboratively, and strive to create solutions that benefit everyone. Instead of telling girls that the triangle is the strongest shape, we teach them to understand and apply the Engineering Design Process, and the realization that the triangle is the strongest shape emerges organically from their own problem-solving. At all our STEM events, meetings, and camps, girls work in teams to solve problems. They learn that engineering is almost always done in teams—which means you don’t need to have all the answers, but you do need to be able to listen, collaborate, and compromise.
Perhaps the most valuable skill a girl can learn through STEM is the ability to learn from failure. I think we are often scared to let our girls fail. Because we want them to feel confident and excited about STEM, it’s hard to resist helicoptering over their experience or telling them how to solve a problem. Research, and my own experience, proves that girls learn more and gain more confidence from being able to fail and try again. At the aforementioned Rube Goldberg event, one girl noted, “If something doesn’t work, make it again.” She gets it. Our STEM programming values failure—it means you tried something! It means you can learn something! It means you can do it better next time! That sai