In the March 2012 issue of Black Enterprise -- Marcia Wade Talbert shares a tip on how to get girls to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in honor of Women's History Month (March). "Research shows that the percentage of girls who say they would not study math anymore given the choice increases between 4th and 12th grade from 9% to 50%. The trend becomes even more pronounced later as the proportion of African-American technical women goes from 4.6% at the entry level to 1.6% at the high level, according to the Anita Borg Institute."So - what can we do to help overcome this?
Mentor - "Even if you aren't working in a STEM field, your presence as a successful individual will help build a young girl's self-esteem and thereby relieve feelings of isolation in male-dominated fields."
Enroll - There are many organizations out there to assist, including Black Girls Code or Microsoft's DigiGirlz High Tech Camp, which "provide opportunities for girls to investigate STEM topics in a creative atmosphere."
Integrate - As we all know - it becomes more real to kids when we connect the dots. "Show [kids] how science and technology are connected to other disciplines and hobbies that they are interested in."
For more information, visit www.blackenterprise.com/technology.
[Source: Marcia Wade Talbert for Black Enterprise]
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