Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

“Tech Girls Rock” Initiative Launched At Boys & Girls Club To Inspire Young Women To STEM

by Jill Pantozzi | 4:15 pm, April 5th, 2012

We already know there’s a serious lack of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers but at least we’re not the only ones actively campaigning to interest young girls in that particular life path. The Boys & Girls Club recently hosted an event called “Tech Girls Rock” to show girls just how fun tech can be and that yes indeed, tech girls do rock.

The South San Francisco Patch writes, “In an effort to deter such dreary statistics, the Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County, in partnership with CA Technologies, invited 140 local girls to the South San Francisco clubhouse Tuesday to take part in “Tech Girls Rock,” an initiative to engage girls in information technology and tech-related activities.”

At the event, 12-year-old Melanie Martinez was asked to name her favorite scientist or mathematician and drew a blank. “It’s pretty sexist,” Martinez said that there are so few women. And there, is the very reason events like this should exist.

Tech Girls Rock was aimed at girls ages 9-16. “Hoping to instill interest and offer information about possible tech careers, the day of workshops included lessons such as Lego robotics and CPU construction,” writes the SSFP.

“In terms of STEM, boys are more encouraged to participate in those subject than girls are,” said Sharon Dolan, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County. “My dad once told me, ‘Don’t worry too much about math and science because girls aren’t as good in those subjects,’” she said. “If someone would have said ‘You can do this,’ I think I’d like to have been an engineer.”

Martinez was a bit hesitant about the event at first. “It’s something that a lot of girls are shy about. They have never had the tools to fix a computer, so they don’t get the chance to do that,” she said, then realized. “I’m not alone. Other girls haven’t done this stuff either, but we get to work as a team.”

SSFP writes, “The Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County is the fifth Boys & Girls Club in the nation to hold Tech Girls Rock after CA Technologies gave a $1 million contribution to hold workshops at clubs throughout the country.”

CA Technologies Director of Community Affairs Erica Christensen says she’d like to make Tech Girls Rock an annual event. She said, “A lot of girls aren’t encouraged to go in that direction and that needs to change.”

(via South San Francisco Patch)

TAGS: science! | STEM | women in science | women in technology

http://twitter.com/gamingangel Trina

What an awesome event! I’d love to see it spread to other Boys and Girls clubs! I know I would volunteer to help out!
http://www.facebook.com/eric.neuman Eric Neuman

This bothers me. Creating events like this send the message to boys that they aren’t important enough to have their own event, and that’s not cool. America is rapidly falling behind in math and science across both genders. Can’t we just have co-ed events that girls are also encouraged to attend?

How can more sexism beget equality? In short, Sharon Dolan’s dad was a shortsighted jerk, but that does not make boys less worthy of attention than girls.
Anonymous

I agree that we shouldn’t forget about the boys but I don’t think a co-ed promotion would be that effective in helping the girls feel included when they are already outnumbered. Maybe if that co-ed promotional event was run mostly by women in the field, though I’m not sure of the practicality of the idea.
http://www.youtube.com/cherubicwindigo Laura

Almost every school has a “computer club” or something similar and they aren’t strictly boys-only but it would certainly look that way to an outsider. We need these type of events to undo hundreds of years of girls and women being told they don’t belong in STEM careers.

No, you know what? It bothers me that this bothers you. Take a step outside your own perspective and just just try to see things from the other side. It wasn’t that long ago that at my own high school I was being ditched every week by my school’s computer club. This is something that needs to change now. This event is a great way for girls to experience technology without the pressure of being the “outsider”. If you ever, ever felt like an outsider you would understand.
http://www.youtube.com/cherubicwindigo Laura

Events like this are needed to bring girls up to speed. There isn’t a lack of technology driven events for children that are co-ed (and therefore mostly populated by boys.)
http://www.facebook.com/eric.neuman Eric Neuman

Please take a look outside your perspective also, and do not make assumptions about my background. I was an “outsider” in everything except the computer lab and the science clubs. That was the only place I belonged, and there were girls that belonged there there too. Today, far fewer boys then girls are graduating from high school, there are more women then men in college, and more women are employed then men.

It seems that you are arguing for artificially applying the pressure of being an outsider to boys who would otherwise be at home at an event such as this. Do boys have to suffer for girls to advance?