Hurricane season has been especially fierce this year for the states of Texas, Florida, and now Puerto Rico. The ripple effect of the devastation is significant, and reaches into schools with unexpected closings, traumatized students and disrupted classrooms. At a time when children are uncertain about their tomorrow, STEM Girls Books would like to help fuel their hope for the future. We would like to offer schools directly impacted by these disasters the opportunity to bring STEM Girls Books into their classroom through a deeply discounted special program. STEM fields are the key to solving some of the toughest problems our world faces, including natural disasters. We believe that the children dealing with the aftermath of these disasters may ultimately be the ones who create innovations that make the impact of such disasters less severe in the future. If you are an early elementary teacher or school administrator who would enjoy the enrichment that a new resource would bring to your classroom – one that fuels hope and stimulates conversation about the problems your students might solve one day through careers in science, technology, engineering and math – please let us know through the form below and we will share details of our at-cost pricing program. We'll do our best to ensure that any impacted school that would like a set of our books receives them. In addition, you and your students may find the women in STEM interviews on our website highly inspirational. Within these interviews you and your students will discover over 50 women – each with unique viewpoints, experiences and careers – who share words of encouragement and offer insights into exciting career paths. STEM Girls Books are picture books designed for preschool through early elementary school ages. But don’t let the name fool you...STEM Girls Books are inspiring for both boys and girls. From a recent reviewer: “These books aren't just for girls. Young boys would enjoy them just as much. Aside from the title, the books are just fun stories of curious kids doing what kids do. The part of the books that I loved the most, both as a parent and an educator, was the end. At the end of each book is a connection to the interest of the character (airplanes, cooking and make-up, and a curious tinkerer) to the real life STEM career that shares those same interests: aerospace engineer, chemist, and a mechanical engineer. Just the fact that I get to have a discussion with my children/students about how they relate to the characters and then discuss a career they might be interested in is HUGE! How often do you get to bring up STEM careers with kids in a normal day? With these books, all the time!” Complete the contact form below and let's get our inspiring books into your classroom.
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This post was originally published in Mamalode April 13, 2017. During a time when we’re pushing so hard to close the gender gap in STEM fields, we must also recognize that these career options are not for everyone. Or are they? I have had the opportunity to learn from some amazing women in STEM during my research process for STEM Girls Books. These women are sharing not only their own stories, but also insight to help parents identify specific traits that a child may possess that could indicate an interest or aptitude for STEM. A love of Legos, brilliant math skills and master puzzle solving abilities are among the most obvious signs of STEM aptitude. But does that mean we should rule out ‘girly girls’ or struggling math students as some of the next great contributors to STEM innovation? Not necessarily. Below are five surefire ways to keep girls out of STEM that are based on misinformation or outdated thinking. 1. Treat her like a boy. In the quest to open more opportunities for girls to succeed in STEM, the goal is not to discourage her from being true to herself. Children can hone their creativity and problem-solving skills whether they’re playing with dolls or Hot Wheels. Taking an interest in STEM does not require compromising her femininity. Natural child’s play that involves costumes, sparkles and dreams of happily-ever-after all provide fuel for the imagination. Creativity and the ability to bring vibrant color – both metaphorically and literally - to an otherwise black-and-white world are key ingredients for the problem-solving scenarios of STEM careers. Chemical Engineer, Marissa Buck, shares how her love of art as a child “helped develop creativity that is important for finding innovative solutions to problems.” Our future innovators will be a beautiful melting pot of shapes, sizes, colors, cultures, interests and talents - we need it that way. 2. Count her out because math is not her strong suit. Let’s be honest. Not everyone is math-oriented and not everyone is going to take joy in studying calculus, physics and logarithms. But before assuming that math isn’t her ‘thing’, examine the reasons why. It could be that 1) she already subconsciously believes that math is too hard, 2) she has yet to encounter that life-impacting teacher (which can make all the difference), or 3) maybe her potential has yet to be tapped, as in the scenario below. Morgan Vickery is pursuing her computer science degree at UNC Chapel Hill and shares how she unexpectedly discovered her career choice. “I always enjoyed the arts, but when I accidentally enrolled in an Introduction to Programming course, I felt like a whole new world of creation had been opened up to me!” While it’s true that most STEM fields require a solid math aptitude, there are a multitude of ancillary (and equally exciting) career paths that don’t require a labor force of mathematicians. We need great teachers, business entrepreneurs, tech-savvy creatives, specialists to operate new machinery and devices, just to name a few. Every child – whether they’re a STEM protégé or not - can benefit from exposure to STEM fields and a greater understanding of the possibilities. 3. Assume she won’t be interested in STEM jobs. A 2016 survey conducted by The Institution of Engineering and Technology in the U.K. found that only seven percent of parents thought that engineering would appeal to their daughter as a career choice. This shocking statistic points to a significant lack of knowledge among parents who do not understand the array of career paths available to engineers. Engineering is not just about ‘building bridges’ as the old school thought process might suggest. Engineering is about exciting and gratifying careers with opportunities to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. As we look for ways to ignite passion for STEM in younger girls, we must also be cognizant of the need for parents to grow their knowledge as well. That’s why we’ve made all of the research we’ve gathered from women in STEM freely available on STEMGirlsBooks.com. Parents can read stories and hear directly from experts about the unique and highly rewarding career options. 4. Replace her crafts with Legos. Creativity is an important part of STEM careers. Like puzzles, craft projects develop problem-solving skills and the ability not only to ‘see’ the possibilities but also to bring that vision to life. Legos, building blocks and other such toys are marvelous ways to identify and build STEM skills, but they are not the only clues. What is more important than force-fitting a particular toy into the hands of a child is identifying that child’s natural preferences, nurturing the areas that they tend to gravitate to (including music and art), and understanding the significance and possibilities of each. Aerospace and Mechanical Engineer, Annie Jones-Wyatt, shares the important role of arts and crafts in the design process of STEM, as it leads to the ability to “draw, sculpt, design and build your own inventions and creations.” 5. Underestimate the job opportunities. With the push for girls in STEM, some may expect a wave of female STEM enthusiasts to saturate the market within the next decade. The fact is, STEM drives innovation and there will never be a shortage of need for superior problem solving skills that are developed with a STEM-related education. In a recent interview, Accenture’s Rumman Chowdhury recalled how her love for reading and research unknowingly prepared her to succeed in a career that didn’t even exist when she was a child. Now an emerging leader in data science and artificial intelligence, Rumman’s story is a good reminder of how versatile and crucial these skills are in an ever-changing, technology-driven world. There will always be jobs for talented, ambitious women in STEM to help solve the problems known today, as well as the ones to come. Encouraging girls in STEM is about tapping into their natural curiosity and keeping their hearts and minds open to pursue what comes naturally to them. Embrace not only building blocks and puzzles, but also her desires to play with dolls, paint messy pictures, explore the backyard, or dream with the happily-ever-after princesses, knowing that these activities do not prevent her from changing the world one day through science, technology, engineering and math. With more equal representation in the STEM fields, it’s a win-win for everyone: girls have greater opportunities to excel in fields that may otherwise seem off limits and our world benefits from more collective talents driving innovation and the future of possibilities. Author Bio Kristi Grigsby is an award-winning marketing consultant and writer with over 20 years of experience growing companies within numerous industries including technology/software, financial services, telecommunications and healthcare. She is also founder of STEM Girls Books, a picture book series designed to introduce young girls to the possibilities of STEM. While the characters in the motion picture Hidden Figures will inspire new dreams, the new picture book series, STEM Girls Books, will provide exposure to the exciting possibilities of STEM along with real role models for girls as young as three. The lack of girls in STEM fields is no surprise to anyone. Education World cited an Australian study, which concluded that if girls increased their confidence, an estimated 75% more women would be working in STEM professions. Additional research from the University of Illinois shows that by age six, girls are already doubting their own intelligence. Although STEM programs are becoming more accessible to young girls, they are often not introduced until the teen years. STEM Girls Books seeks to change that. STEM Girls Books is a series of picture books for ages 3-8 that explore the excitement of STEM careers and inspire little girls to dream big. While the book series is currently in development, feedback is being collected from real women in STEM who are sharing their stories and encouraging young girls to aim high and follow their dreams. The interviews are profiled on the website and provide a simplistic yet captivating view of a specific STEM field so that young girls will see that these careers are cool for girls too. For example, Sharon Diaz, Ph.D., taps into the appeal of Superheroes to explain medical research. "In our bodies, the Superheroes are our immune cells. They are the good guys that defend our bodies against the villains. The villains are things that cause disease like bacteria, viruses, cancer cells and other things that can make us sick. Medical researchers find ways to help our Superheroes (immune cells) defend our bodies against disease." Amazing young women have already shared their stories and all women in STEM are invited to participate. Girls and their parents will find inspiring stories from chemical, biomedical and mechanical engineers, research scientists, computer programmers and more. While girls will leave the movie theater with new dreams planted from Hidden Figures, they can go to STEMGirlsBooks.com and explore more possibilities from real women in STEM. Visit http://www.STEMGirlsBooks.com to learn more. |