Women are typically stereotyped as “communal.” Thus, girls are seen as the kind, supportive, nurturing, and caring individuals in a society and so guided to fit the kind, supportive and caring jobs.
Can we change this?
Can we furnish the learning environments with girls in engineering, science, math and technology literature? Maybe if they read about women and girls like themselves excelling in STEM fields they can imagine a posture for themselves as leaders in every field as well as careers.
An overwhelming majority of STEM fields in st.Kitts and the wider Caribbean are occupied by men. So, how do we encourage women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (henceforth, STEM) for gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow? When images and text in their classroom and society confirms the implicit bias of their intended spaces?
It is not always obvious but education begins at home then it is transferred into the schools. Hence, the home is a primary place of education and it continues to have the responsibility of an important stakeholder in education throughout the child’s life. In the absence of a supportive home, charitable community intervention can help to provide literature that speaks to the potential and achievement of women in science, real or fiction.
My experience in the classroom indicates that telling a child she is capable and intelligent enough to achieve the goal and having her believe in her ability completes 50% of the assignment. Once a girl becomes motivated in her own belief she is often willing to apply the needed effort in every academic and skill pursuit.
Hence, maybe furnishing our homes with stories about girls in engineering, science, math and technology would allow girls to reimagine themselves as explorers, scientists and mathematicians in the classrooms preparing for the world.
