How to get girls into STEM? Explore STEAM as an approach...
It’s important to study STEM subjects. There are umpteen studies showing the steep future growth in STEM careers, particularly those that are computing related. In fact, there will not be a single career in the future that is not somehow touched by computing.
We’ve also heard about the imbalance when it comes to female enrolment in STEM subjects; the statistics are particularly dire when we look at computing. A recent survey showed that:
Only 11% of students study Computing at GCSE level and only 20% of these students are girls. At A-level, this percentage drops to 9%.
There are a number of reasons for this imbalance. Some are cultural (lack of knowledge about female role models in computing and differing interests among peer groups) and some have to do with the type of material being taught. At our own code clubs, we have seen that girls can risk being intimidated by boisterous groups of boys that are really into ‘gaming’ and ‘hacking’. In fact, enrolment in GCSE Computing classes is much higher at girls’ schools than it is at mixed schools, further reinforcing the importance of a supportive peer group.
Part of our mission at blue{shift} is to make coding an inclusive subject, attractive to as broad a range of children as possible. It is important to us to inspire those children that might not otherwise be interested in coding and robotics to engage in the subject. Making computing attractive to girls is a core part of what we do.
We work actively to design teaching materials that appeal equally to girls and boys. We have found that when we focus on the outcomes of a class, or the games, stories or creatures children will create (rather than the technologies involved), we have a larger uptake of girls. We have also found that when we use words like ‘animation’ and ‘arts and crafts’ and ‘creativity’ combined with ‘coding’ and ‘robotics’ rather than ‘coding’ or ‘robotics’ on their own, we have a larger uptake of girls too. There was a recent study by Coder Dojo Scotland that did a fantastic job of analysing the way we describe coding events and their appeal to girls.
So…what’s this business about STEAM?
There is a movement, particularly strong in the United States (and one we endorse) that proposes adding ‘arts’ to the more accepted ‘science, technology, engineering and maths’ group of subjects — this way we’ll encourage students to take a broader world view. From our point of view, and as emphasised by the clever minds at Vidcode, adding an arts component to computing makes it more fun and approachable. To some children, an ‘arts, crafts and robotics’ club will sound a lot more their speed than a club that is simply called ‘robotics’.
Clearly, this emphasis is not just in the name: if we can put our own personal stamp on the things we make using code and electronics, and really express our ideas and be creative, there’s the possibility we can engage children who might not otherwise be interested. When coding is used as a form of self-expression it can be much more compelling to study!
To help remedy the divide, we are offering a DIY Girls camp this summer for 9 to 13 year olds. This camp will have girls making ‘crafty robots’ out of cardboard and electronics, creating their own music synthesizers, webpages ,and generating art and design works through code. We want to see whether we can attract girls who might otherwise not enrol in a coding and robotics camp and whether the girls we do attract are more likely to continue their study of computing.
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