These Young Girls Say YES! to Science
7 out of 10 girls are interested in science.
2 out of 10 girls will pursue a career in science.
There is something seriously wrong with those numbers. Science is cool... kids love science, adults love science, we all love science. Space, technology, the earth, our bodies, bird bodies, fish bodies. Science explains everything. I mean, THAT is cool! It's hard to NOT love science!
But there's something that happens in school aged girls... some tend to loose confidence in themselves as individuals, just trying to fit in. Or confidence in what they can accomplish & how far their little brains can bend. If there aren't other girls in the drafting class in high school, having the gumption to be the only girl can be hard. And that girl who maybe dreamt of being an architect or engineer, may never think twice about it. Sad.
"[Girls] might really love science, but they might be ... afraid people might think, 'Oh, don't boys do that? That's a boy thing,'" one girl explained.
"Microsoft's ad -- which was launched in honor of International Women's Day -- addresses the gender gap when it comes to students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM).
The Obama administration is trying to make science an accessible subject for every student. According to the White House, 'President Obama knows that we simply cannot, as a nation, expect to maintain our run of ingenuity and innovation ... if we do not broaden participation in STEM to all Americans, including women and girls and minorities.'
More brands are aiming to empower women through their messaging, experts claim. Last June, Verizon produced an ad similar to Microsoft's focused on encouraging girls to pursue science-related careers. The video -- which focused on society's expectation that girls are to be pretty, but not curious about scientific pursuits -- asked, "Isn't it time we told her she's pretty brilliant, too?"
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Source: Huffington Post, YouTube