‘Girls in STEM’ has become a trendy phrase the world over. We can all agree it’s a a noble initiative. If you are raising daughters and have not adopted the mantra, you are doing the whole movement a great disservice.
Lets face it, parenting is always going to play a big role in the success of any child-centered initiative. In this case, trying to get more girls into STEM is going to be impacted by how well this is adopted by the parents of daughters.
Family culture, norms and values have a huge bearing on the career choices of girls. In fact, most of the barriers to girls in STEM have stemmed (pun intended) from some parenting approaches also. To focus on getting more girls into STEM, adjustments are going to have to be made to how we parent girls.
Equal learning opportunities. Choosing schools for girls and boys should be determined by the same factors. In fact, go a step further and find schools for your daughters that encourage girls to enrol in STEM subjects. Create opportunities for developing relevant skills by encouraging girls to be involved in problem solving situations in the home. Give them opportunities to explore and experiment also.
Equal study opportunitiesChildren need to do chores. Traditionally, however, girls’ chores tend to consume more time and reduce opportunities to study. Cooking, cleaning, and other housework responsibilities should be distributed equally. Generally, children should be allowed to focus more on their studies than on domestic chores.
Support and encouragementAs with any other activity that your child may be interested in, it is important to support and encourage them. Be the cheerleader, coach, or banker as the situation may require. It is also necessary to encourage girls to believe that sciences are not too hard or unsuitable for them. Purchase requisite learning tools, and promote play that enables learning.
Mentorship. It is important for girls in STEM to have someone they can look up to, who shares with them knowledge and experiences of the field. Parents should assist their daughters to identify individuals within the family or community to fulfil the role of mentor. Finding women to fill this role will be great, but needs not be a limitation. A male mentor or role model is fine as long as he shares the belief that girls can be as successful as their male counterparts.
Talent identification. When all is said and done, the most successful careers are anchored about individual talents. Much as we would like more of our daughters to get into STEM, some of them may be disinterested, or not gifted in the area. You do not need to force your daughter into STEM. The idea is they should be able to pursue that track if they so wish. The parent’s role is to help identify their daughter’s talent, and then support them in pursing it, STEM or not.