ing another girl a tip or trick. This collaborative, comfortable experience is only possible when girls feel free to be girls, and research shows that the confidence developed in all-girl environments like this one, stay with them even when they move into coeducational spaces.
Taking that girl power a step further, Girl Scout programming is also largely girl-led. This means girls often plan their own experiences, make their own choices, and solve problems with their own unique perspectives. During engineering challenges, we always answer girls’ questions with more questions. A girl may ask me, “Why does my tower keep falling over?” I would respond, “Where is it falling? What could you do to help that area?” And while it is often tempting to directly intervene when we see a girl struggling with a problem we know how to solve, we never touch a girl’s project without her explicit permission. By the end of the program, girls feel like they led the experience, not the adults. They are proud of their creations, whether they worked as planned or not.
Confidence is also built up by exposure to diverse and positive role models. We give girls lots of opportunities to meet women in STEM, from programmers to high school girls on robotics teams to carpenters. Unlike the distant, abstract, and artificially idealized figures from their history books, the girls can see themselves in the intelligent, accomplished women who mentor them. This role modeling extends to the troop leaders, parents, and Girl Scout staff who interact with girls every day.
One small step that can really impact a girl’s confidence in STEM is seeing a close role model’s interest in STEM topics. It’s easy for adults who have little personal experience to remark that “they are not really a STEM person.” At Girl Scouts River Valleys, everyone is a “STEM person.” Whether we use STEM in our everyday work, or learn alongside our girls while completing the steps for a badge, we know science is for everyone.
When I look at the girls who have the opportunity to experience Girl Scout STEM programming—and the countless girls who don’t—I cannot help but think of myself at their age. What if I had gotten more hands-on STEM experiences? What if I had been taught persistence and the value of failure? What if I had been supported by female role models engaged in STEM? Growing up, I was part not only of that 74% of girls who are interested in STEM, but also part of an unfortunately large subset of that percentage who were never properly nurtured and encouraged, whose interests never translated into meaningful pursuit. If things were different, perhaps I’d be in the STEM field today.
But I got lucky, though—I love my job. I get to create incredible, life-defining STEM experiences for girls as they learn about their own passions. My passion, and the vision of STEM at Girl Scouts River Valleys, is that every girl can transform her “maybe” into an “I got this!” Our engagement with girls in STEM will impact their perceptions of the field and of themselves for the rest of their lives.
Girls are ready, so let’s rise to meet them.
Hannah Gilbert is the STEM program coordinator at Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys. Girl Scouts River Valleys provides life-changing STEM experiences to all girls and aims to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. You can learn more about GSRV here.