I am a grandmother of five beautiful children (three granddaughters, two grandsons). I love all of them unconditionally and delight in dancing with them, teaching them silly knock-knock jokes and other Grandmama stuff. But because I know there is more truth in, “It’s a man’s world” than there is in, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”; I am more concerned about my granddaughters’ futures.
My two oldest grandchildren, both of them girls, are in Kindergarten and First Grade. They are at an age where their opportunities and interests are pretty much on par with the boys in their classrooms. However, that parity will not last long. Girls get pigeonholed into gender-based societal expectations and are prone to lose interest in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math - at a very young age, though they often out-perform boys in these areas. And based on my own experience, I know the gender disparity in STEM is real.
Before I became a stay at home grandmother, I was a working mom. My career was in nursing when I went back to school to study computer science. By the time my graduation ceremony took place I’d landed a job at NCR. Back then (early 1980s), it was almost unheard of for a “girl” to be in the IT (Information Technology) trenches alongside the “boys”. I took a lot of guff in a male-dominated field, but hung in there. I had to. I was going through a divorce and needed to support myself and my three children.
A decade later, I remarried and relocated to Chicago where I worked for Motorola on their 24/7 support team. I was the first woman that held that position. Eventually, despite many gender-biased obstacles on the corporate ladder, I climbed to the top and managed to put a few cracks in the Information Technology glass ceiling.
So when my first grandchild came into this world, I couldn’t help but think about her future. I hoped she would have a bright one with unlimited opportunity, and I set out to find ways to cultivate her curiosity and inspire her to think outside the “pink-colored box”. Before she could walk, I sat her on my lap in front of my computer where we’d surf the web for age appropriate children’s songs (and a few classic rock tunes, of course). Then a year or so later her cousin joined her on my lap. We three girls had lots of fun dancing to music, playing games and cruising down the information highway.
Since I had used play to introduce my granddaughters to technology, I went shopping for toys that would keep them engaged in STEM. I became frustrated by the fact that very few such toys are geared towards girls. Then I heard about a mechanical engineer named Debbie Sterling.
Debbie created Goldieblox, a STEM toy specifically for girls. I gave my granddaughters the first set, Goldieblox and The Spinning Machine, and they loved it. Now I get them a new set every year, usually as a birthday gift, and we three girls have lots of fun building stuff together.
Goldieblox and Grandmama’s lap, though excellent resources, aren’t the only ways my granddaughters and other young girls are nowadays being encouraged to embrace science, technology, engineering and math. Parents, educators, girl-centric organizations, businesses, scientists, the White House, and others have recognized the disparity of men vs women in STEM fields and the need to get and keep girls interested in STEM.
Listed here are just a few people and organizations that are leading the way to STEMming the Disparity:
- PBS Parents has SciGirls, a show for kids ages 8-12, and provides parent resources and tips for keeping girls interested in STEM.
- Girl Scouts of the USA has the Imagine STEM program. (As a former Girl Scout, this is one of my favorite programs. My granddaughters are in scouting and my daughter, also a former Girl Scout, is a troop leader.)
- Girls Who Code (GWC), founded by Reshma Saujani in 2012, offers computer science education programs for girls nationwide.
- The American Association of University Women (AAUW), long-time champions for gender-equity causes, has the summer camp Tech Trek, and other education projects aimed at keeping girls interested in STEM.
- Science Club for Girls (SCFG) connects girls in grades K-12, especially ones from under-represented/under-served communities, with mentors who are female scientists through free STEM programs.
- Women@NASA sponsors several outreach programs, including NASA SISTER (Summer Institute in Science, Engineering, and Research).
From the day they were born, I’ve loved and wanted only the best for my granddaughters (and grandsons). I want to nurture them, encourage them, instill self-confidence, and teach them that it’s okay to develop interests beyond the color-coded-gender-norms of society. And, though my two oldest granddaughters have grown so much that I can no longer fit both of them on my lap in front of my computer, I will continue to engage them in STEM... and other Grandmama stuff, of course.
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