Amperes: Current Affairs From Around the World – Keeping the STEM Door Open for All Girls

June 1, 2019 by Katianne Williams

FIVE GUIDELINES TO MAXIMIZE THEIR POTENTIAL

Many initiatives aim to increase girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but unless we can expand our “STEM girl” definition beyond the gifted young math students, science fair winners, and traditional LEGO builders, we’ll all miss out. Instead of trying to fit a certain set of girls into a slightly wider STEM stereotype, let’s change our perception of what a science and math kid looks like in the first place so that all children see how they can use STEM to further their own interests, talents, and dreams.

The following five ideas are taken from Count Girls In, a book I coauthored with Dr. Karen Panetta, editor-in-chief of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine as well as Tufts University’s dean of Graduate Engineering, School of Engineering, and founder of Nerd Girls. They are just a few examples of how we can keep the STEM door open for all.

Read more about it on IEEE Xplore Digital Library.

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine is the first magazine to focus on issues facing women who study or work in IEEE’s fields of interest.

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine strives to recognize women’s outstanding achievements in electrical and electronics engineering as well as enhance networking and to promote membership in IEEE Women in Engineering.

The publication also advocates for women in leadership roles and career advancement for women in STEM professions, and it facilitates the development of programs and activities that promote the entry into and retention of women in engineering programs.

Engineering the Magic

When the Enchanted Tiki Room opened at Disney-land in Anaheim, Calif., in 1963, it was, by all accounts, thrilling. Inside were dozens of talking flowers, totem poles, and birds-colorful macaws, toucans, and cockatoos-and together they per-formed a musical show by dancing and singing along to tunes like the “Hawaiian War Chant.” Huge crowds visited the attraction, excited to get a look at these early Audio-Animatronics-“audio” meaning that sound triggered a series of mechanisms, like cams and levers, that caused a pneumatic valve to open and close, moving an eye, a beak, or part of the body in time with the music. People loved them.