December 2016
focus on male participants. The effects of various
medications on a woman’s body as opposed to a
man’s are not taken into account.
For Ronstadt, it was her parents who encouraged
her passion for science. Her chemist father and
teacher mother took her to aquariums and zoos,
to the Discovery Science Center, and on nature
hikes. As a junior in high school, she attended a
month-long science program at UC San Diego
where she studied marine biology.
It is, therefore, necessary for women to enter
STEM fields in order to bring a new perspective
to problems that affect women that might be
overlooked by men.
The STEM program at Orange Lutheran wants
to encourage female students to enter the field in
which they are so sorely underrepresented. In
order to do so, the program has ensured that
there are an equal number of male and female
science teachers. There is immense power in
leading by example. Ronstadt said, “The girls in
our class see women role models that are
teaching science and are passionate about science
and are excited about science.”
These obstacles will be difficult to overcome.
However, many people are taking steps to
encourage young girls to pursue STEM related
activities.
In order to foster an interest in engineering in
young girls, Debbie Sterling founded GoldieBlox,
a company dedicated to creating toys that will
encourage girls to enjoy building and creating.
Sterling told The New York Times that she was
disturbed by the fact that toys meant for boys
were things like “construction toys and math and
science kits” while girls had princesses and
ponies.
While society has moved away from telling
women that they cannot succeed in STEM, there
are still barriers that must be broken in order to
make the field more equitable. This is not a
problem that will be solved overnight.
In Canada, Ladies Learning Code was formed in
order to encourage more women to learn how to
design technology, not just consume it. What
began as one workshop class grew into a series of
classes, clubs, workshops, and camps offered to
both young and old, and even a computer lab
that travels around Canada.
Step by step, however, with the recognition that
women can do anything they set their minds to
and have just as much potential as their male
peers, progress can be made.
In 2014, Verizon ran
an ad called “Inspire
Her Mind” to show
how society
discourages young
girls from enjoying
STEM related
activities.
Photo courtesy of
Moxie Media
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