Empowering Middle School Girls in STEM

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around a project aimed at encouraging middle school girls to pursue engineering and related STEM fields, such as physics, computer science, and mathematics. Participants explore the project's scope, its uniqueness, and the challenges of addressing gender disparities in these areas.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses concern about the lack of uniqueness in their project idea, noting that similar initiatives exist at other universities.
  • Another participant questions the project's purpose and suggests that replicating a successful program could be beneficial, emphasizing the importance of justifying the project choice.
  • A different participant shows interest in the topic but does not contribute specific ideas.
  • One participant reflects on the project's timeframe and considers shifting focus from encouraging girls in STEM to understanding the reasons behind their lack of interest in math and physics.
  • Another participant recommends looking into Expanding Your Horizons conferences as a model for the project.
  • Concerns are raised about studies suggesting that females may face greater challenges in math and science compared to males, with a reference to a specific program aimed at supporting girls in these subjects.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion reveals multiple competing views regarding the project's direction and focus, particularly on whether to emphasize encouragement or understanding barriers. There is no consensus on how to proceed or what the project should prioritize.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention the need for a clear timeframe for the project and the potential to modify existing ideas to make them more personal. There is also uncertainty about the project's classification as a class or research project.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for educators, community organizers, and individuals interested in promoting STEM fields among young girls, as well as those seeking to understand gender dynamics in education.

kolycholy
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my project involves doing something that involves community service work...

I wanted to do a project on middle school girls to encourage them to pursue engineering, because the number of women engineers in US (or any other place in general I think) does not look very promising. Now, I wouldn't hesitate to include physics, computer science, math etc in the project, because these subjects are not supposed to be a girl's forte. However, I'm a bit reluctant to make it a science project rather than an engineering project, because science would include biology, chemistry etc, and I think girls are doing fine in those fields. (look at the number of female doctors we have?!)
now that I have told you about my general vague idea about my project, i am afraid that there's not something unique/creative about my project. In other words, I googled my project idea and I found out other universities have carried out similar stuff.

so I was wondering what could I possibly do to make the project more exciting and something that has not been done before? at the end of day, it needs to be a community service project though. (although we don't need to stress this too much)
 
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What is this project for? a class?...research? i.e. why you are concerned about its "creativity-value"? If it's really to accomplish something, maybe an already-successful program is a good thing to copy, and you can include some of that research in your project write-up, justifying your project decision (after all, if a successful program isn't in your community, getting one going is GOOD). Or maybe is the program interests you but isn't really shown to encourage girls to become engineers, can you think of a way to measure that in the time-frame of your project?

Then: What is the time frame of your project with the students? What are some of the ideas you already have or have found? Can you modify them slightly to make the more "yours"? Let's continue this discussion!
 
Although I don't have any idea but I am very much interested in this topic too. Please do not stop. Thank you.
 
physics girl phd said:
What is this project for? a class?...research? i.e. why you are concerned about its "creativity-value"? If it's really to accomplish something, maybe an already-successful program is a good thing to copy, and you can include some of that research in your project write-up, justifying your project decision (after all, if a successful program isn't in your community, getting one going is GOOD). Or maybe is the program interests you but isn't really shown to encourage girls to become engineers, can you think of a way to measure that in the time-frame of your project?

Then: What is the time frame of your project with the students? What are some of the ideas you already have or have found? Can you modify them slightly to make the more "yours"? Let's continue this discussion!
the project is for a class, but the last time I checked, it was supposed to be a research project ...
I was also thinking instead of encouraging girls to pursue math and physics, maybe I should try to find the reason they don't pursue math and physics ...
i know you would think that why not both? but i don't think i would have that much time ... i have about a semester to finish the project ...
i'm still pretty open to suggestions though
 
kolycholy said:
because the number of women engineers ... does not look very promising.

Some studies say that females are mentally more challanged by math and science than men. They even have a MISS program at CalState Fullerton to help girls with those subjects over the summer.

Can you tell us more specifically what class this is?
 

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