Playfulness Before Perfection: Helping Girls Succeed in STEM
Having spent my career teaching and leading STEM programs at schools, summer camps, and museums, I’ve seen how deeply the learning environment impacts student performance and engagement.
When I taught in co-ed settings, the boys in my classes often raised their hands more eagerly than the girls, even when they weren’t totally sure of the answer. The girls, on the other hand, tended to raise their hands only if they felt fully confident about the answer. Some girls didn’t raise their hands at all. Our society has made tremendous progress, but we’re still working to help girls find belonging in STEM. According to AAUW, women make up just a third of the STEM workforce, and men outnumber women majoring in many STEM fields in college.
I kept asking myself: how can we, as educators, set our female students up for success and encourage them to pursue their dreams without hesitation? As the head of a maker space at a girls’ school, I’m constantly thinking of innovative ways to empower girls in STEM. We must create a safe environment for girls to make mistakes, teach them to collaborate, and, most importantly, encourage playfulness.
A Safe Place to Make Mistakes
I’m personally familiar with the perfectionist’s mindset. I used to be a meticulous planner, wanting to make sure everything went the way I wanted before I even began. Now I tell my students, “Just get in there and start breaking stuff and see where that leads you! Bring it on!”
People often assume that success in STEM takes perfection and a cold, analytical style. However, this type of thinking can keep some students away from STEM. We need a supportive environment that motivates new learners without expecting instant success. Mistakes feel scary, but they are also learning opportunities. Working through challenges builds students’ confidence in tackling anything that comes their way, in technology, in other classes, and in life.
Collaboration
Not too long ago, many school subjects were taught in a siloed way: physics and computer science were separate from humanities, for example. I’m glad to see that schools are embracing collaborative maker spaces and integrative learning. Of course, we must teach them about circuits and pixels, but also about the ways people and disciplines work together on a “systems” level.
One of my middle school design teams built an alicorn robot (in case you’re not familiar with alicorns, they’re unicorns with wings), but its wings were too heavy to flap on their own. The team experimented with different techniques and together, they came up with a pulley system and strings to control the motion. The robot was a hit at our semiannual petting zoo!
I find that students innovate and troubleshoot best in supportive, collaborative, and student-driven maker spaces. A senior might show the sixth graders how to use a hammer or a 3D printer. While the adults are always present, it’s the girls who mentor and answer each other’s questions. In doing so, they become role models for the younger students and help them develop a strong sense of belonging. I enjoy seeing how seriously my students approach their tasks and how they ensure that everyone feels cared for.
The student-driven culture of our robotics program is, I believe, one of its main draws. In our Upper School, it’s the most popular club. And we’ve had to create three separate Middle School robotics cohorts to accommodate everyone who is interested!
Together, students build robots—sometimes fantastical and hilarious, and always technologically savvy and complex. The true technological marvel, however, is the way the teams work together. This experience promotes a love of STEM that many students end up pursuing in college and fosters bonds that endure long after graduation.
Playful and Profound
Girls in STEM can be both playful and profound. That’s why we should encourage them to bring their full creative selves to the task. I noticed that my female students easily see connections between STEM, creativity, and human-centered design. Many are eager to make a positive impact on the world through creative uses of technology.
All the tools in our lab have fun personalities and names. It’s not uncommon for me to see students operate power tools while (safely!) wearing tutus and bedazzled safety glasses. At other times, they stick googly eyes on machine shop tools and robots. I like to joke that our maker space feels like a Silicon Valley startup crossed with a STEM slumber party. They’re in the lab tinkering late into the night because they’re doing purposeful work and having fun.
If we create spaces that are nurturing, collaborative, and playful, we will empower girls to handle ambiguity in our increasingly complex world. They’ll build resilience and creative confidence, knowing that the universe is their playground.
By Bridget Rigby, Director of the Robotics Lab, Bourn Idea Lab, at Castilleja School
Bridget Rigby is the director of the robotics lab, Bourn Idea Lab, at Castilleja School, an independent girls school in Palo Alto, CA. A design-based learning innovator, Bridget has previously taught Making, Design, and Code at Lighthouse Community Public Schools in Oakland, served as Learning Director at the Tech Museum of Innovation, and led summer camp programs at Galileo Learning, both in Silicon Valley.