Research says: Feminine STEM role models do not motivate girls

[MamaSpoldi]

Originally Posted by Jessica Boucher

Woah, woah, woah. Don't drive yourself nuts here. Your students will choose who they look up to, not the other way around. Just be yourself, be honest, and most importantly, be present. The best role models are the ones you can relate to.

Jess - I could not have said it better myself. I will admit that I too wonder sometimes if I am the "best" role model for the young women on our team... and I try to remind myself, each time I hear this question whispered in my mind, that I can only do my best... just like every other mentor. My answer is to try to relate to what they are looking for, sharing my experience, and helping them achieve their goals in whatever way I can.

Originally Posted by Astrokid248

My point is that the people who make these motivational posters and videos need to be balanced in how they portray female STEM role models. For every video of how science makes your makeup, there needs to be a Rosy the Riveter out-muscling linebackers with a wrench or Sam Carter fixing old motorcycles after coming home from a hard day of interdimensional wormhole physics. And more to the original point of this thread, realism is the key here. The video from the original article? Faker than all the noses in Hollywood combined. That will turn most girls off simply because of how silly it all is.

I totally agree with this point as well... and I have seen it way too many times, oddly enough, from the Girl Scouts as well. Almost every science program they offer somehow relates STEM to makeup or some other very girly topic, totally alienating the girls who are actually interested in STEM in the first place. This has been a point of frustration expressed to me by many young women who have given up on scouts because of that lack of substance in their program.