This video is awesome! I’m really excited to watch more videos at tpt.org/scigirls-profiles
- I’d love to hear how you think about measuring the impact of exposing kids to role models like Caroline. Do you have specific knowledge or attitudinal changes you’re hoping to bring about?
- How do you think about balancing discussion of opportunities in STEM and challenges faced by women and underrepresented minorities in STEM?

Thanks for making great videos to share! :)
- Colleen

Really great profile. What an great example Caroline is! Looking forward to seeing more profiles.

Thank you all, the complete series of videos is located at http://www.tpt.org/scigirls-profiles. They are also on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/scigirlstv and will shortly be available in Spanish.

These profiles feature women innovators, problem-solvers and dreamers who live right next door. They’re passionate about their work, hobbies, families and helping to make the world a better place. They share their strategies for overcoming challenges and finding success and joy in jobs where women are underrepresented, and inspire girls to pursue all kinds of interests and careers.

Thank you for your questions. We have a research study underway for this project that is addressing the impact of role models and role model videos on girls’ STEM identity. The study will examine girls’ personal experiences with equitable strategies embedded into classroom STEM/CTE content and complementary mentoring experiences, both live and video-based. It will explore how these experiences contribute to girls’ STEM-related identity construction against gender-based stereotypes. It will also determine to what extent girls’ exposure to female STEM role models impacts their CTE studies and STEM career aspirations.

The project is rooted in over a decade of research-based approaches proven to engage girls in STEM. These approaches address specific barriers preventing many high school-age girls from fully participating in CTE-STEM career tracks. These barriers include limited exposure to female STEM role models; stereotypes around girls’ lack of STEM ability and interest; commonly held misperceptions about STEM fields being “unfeminine;” low STEM self-esteem (negative or neutral STEM identity); lack of knowledge and/or misunderstanding of STEM fields; and a disproportionate (and thus intimidating and/or unwelcoming) number of male students and educators in CTE. For minority girls, particularly those of low socioeconomic status, additional barriers can include low exposure to STEM professional role models who look like them. We are strongly committed to being explicit around these barriers and strategies to overcome them in our role model videos!

Research shows that connecting middle school students to STEM activities and role models is important to the development of STEM interest and career expectations—particularly for girls and minorities. Young girls are rarely exposed to female role models in STEM fields, and this compounds stereotypes that these professions are typically male, white and middle-class. Additionally, in some STEM fields (such as physics, mechanical and computer engineering) men significantly outnumber women, and this adds to the broader socio-historical perception of STEM fields as predominantly masculine. Consequently, individuals who do not fit into the categories find it more difficult to identify fully with these fields and often leave the traditional (or “legitimate”) path to STEM careers. Role models are critical for minority students, for even those who do well in STEM often struggle to identify with STEM fields because they cannot find connections to their lives. An inability to identify with STEM is often compounded by the lack of personal relationships students have with STEM professionals in school classrooms. Several studies show that role models improve students’ STEM identity by increasing attitude change, interest, and self-efficacy in STEM fields.

This is an exciting video—one cannot help but be excited about the science and about the possibilities for women in this field. I am very pleased to know about the research study concerning the impact of role models on girls’ STEM identity. Identifying barriers that undermine the interest of girls in STEM careers and identifying factors that promote such identity provide very useful implications for educators, parents, and scientists. Is this video being shown in school science courses? It would promote very interesting discussion among high school students, I think.

The video series is awesome! I would love to leverage these in a classroom to inspire more young women to consider STEM careers. How are the videos being introduced to educators, and what methods are you suggesting teachers use to implement them in regular (or irregular!) instruction?

This is a great video and form of advocacy! I love the narrative approach. Are you showing these videos to young girls in middle or elementary school, or is it exclusively used for outreach with high school students?

What a lovely video! And the whole series looks like really well-produced case studies that provide good role models.

One question I have for you is: How do you select the case subjects?
Another question is: How are you tracking impact/effect on your intended audience?

-Barry

This is so great! There seem to be two levels to the project: the project itself, SciGirls Strategies: Gender Equitable Teaching Practices in Career and Technical Education Pathways for High School Girls, AND these fabulous profiles videos- both of which seem great!

I am curious about the function of the video series in your project. I imagine they could play a double role to inform and inspire high school students about their peers and let the general public/education community know about the project? I noticed that the style of the videos and graphics had a student friendly feeling so I was wondering if your team is hoping these will be played in classrooms?

Yes, Kathryn! We are hoping that educators use the videos in addition to live role models to help jump start the discussion about women in non-traditional fields in a very explicit way. They are a part of the course we are providing in the use of gender equitable strategies to address barriers to girls in STEM – one of the most important strategy is the use of role models. We had about 40 women interested in being a role model, made 12 videos, trained about 15 and invited all to a meet and greet to connect them to teachers! and yes, we hope for wider dissemination by our national advisors and showcases like this one!

Hi Rita and team!
Great work! We have crafted a project aimed at faculty as change agents in creating inclusive learning engineering environments (i.e., Engineering Inclusive Teaching: Faculty Professional Development project—www.WSKC.org/EIT.) I would love to link to your work, particularly as a resource for building students self-efficacy, personal vision for students, and counteracting stereotype threat. I have not looked at any other example other than that showcased but are they all of college-level students? Thanks for your work and your thoughts!

Thank you Gretal! Please feel free to link to our SciGirls Seven and Role Model Strategies. Join our online SciGirls CONNECT community at scigirlsconnect.org! Our resources are aimed at K-12 and our role models are of all ages, but often entry-level professionals or graduate students. We are currently working on a new project with college students as mentors for middle school girls.

Thanks for sharing this video! I’m excited to look at some of the other videos you have available – it looks like you have a wide variety of STEM careers represented. Do you have any plans to expand your video library?

Thanks, Christine! We’re in pre-production now for another series of 12 profile videos showcasing Latina STEM professionals, to be filmed in both English and Spanish. We’d love to hear your suggestions for any specific careers you’d like to see featured.

Hi,
Another NSF funded project I produced several years back includes a few profiles of women in professional CS roles, as well as some online games for middle school girls. The project, called Girls Gather for Computer Science (G2CS) http://g2cs.org/diy/, ran summer camps for the girls three years in a row, taking them on field trips and giving them hands on opportunities. We documented the first year, and our friends as Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, mentor the students for 10 years. The 10 year mark isn’t up yet, but I’m looking forward to the outcomes of the camp. Another resource for you all who are looking for them. SciGirls is terrific!!!

Thank you Catherine for the information about your work! Role models matter! We are developing new coding initiatives for SciGirls that will introduce girls and their educators to coding through several tracks including e-textiles, robotics and geospatial technologies.

We aim to offer tween girls (and their educators!) an introduction to computer science and a foundation for continued experience in the field. In addition the programs will allow girls to pursue interest-driven projects with support from their adult mentors, opportunities for connecting with peers through digital meet ups where girls share their work; and contact with women role models.

Just watched the video profile of Sandra Begay, from the Navajo Nation. Inspiring! I’ve seen first hand how role models enlighten and inspire young women, and change their trajectory. Thanks Rita, and all for all the great work!