Why Advocate: Partnering with Educators to Inspire the Future Generation of Engineers

There are many moving parts within the STEM pipeline, and many brilliant minds and hard-working hands that spin the wheels. For this month’s Why Advocate, we’d like to take a look at educators – a very important part of our STEM pipeline.

Career motivation begins at the K-12 level. The top influences on choosing science and engineering have been found to be your parents and your K-12 teachers, with your father coming in at number one, K-12 teachers at number two, and your mother at number three. [1] K-12 is the stage where girls first get exposed to STEM, create an interest in STEM and develop role models in STEM. Many of those role models will be K-12 teachers, engineers by trade or not.

K-12 teachers have the opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of young girls who demonstrate potential in STEM. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, the top factors that influence career motivation of girls ages 14-17 are helping people, making a difference in the world and helping those who are less fortunate. [2] But, many young girls lose interest in STEM early on because they don’t correlate STEM with these attributes. Teachers are in a vital situation that allows them to debunk stereotypes attached to STEM and educate young girls on what it’s really like to have a future career in STEM.

“Engineering has a branding problem,” explained Jacquelyn Nagel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at James Madison University, and Strategic Planning Committee Chair and MAL Vice President at SWE. “Everyone thinks it’s about robots and bridges, hardhats and clip boards. And, yes, that’s part of it, but it’s not the only part. If that’s the only part a young girl is exposed to, it’s hard for her to see herself fitting in that role, especially when she wants to help people. Young girls directly connect nurses, doctors and teachers, for example, to helping people – not engineering.”

So, as a woman in engineering advocate, what can you do to help? How can you have an influence on teachers to encourage their influence on the future generation of women in STEM?

Nagel encourages members to partner with teachers and talk about the issue at hand. “Talk about biases and stereotypes that prevent young women from seeing themselves fulfilling a STEM career,” explains Nagel. “Have a really rich, engaging discussion about the perceptions of engineers and the engineering profession, as well as the hurdles that are preventing girls from considering STEM as a career.”

James Madison University hosts an annual K-12 educator workshop for both educators already in the classroom working with young girls, and educators who are in training and will be working with girls soon. This is an opportunity to discuss the public perceptions of engineering and the negative stereotypes associated that are often the cause for young girls to stray away from STEM.

“The workshops are a great way to give educators a well-rounded view of what an engineer really is, and the qualities the comprise a great future engineer,” Nagel adds. “Having this discussion with educators is important – a lot of them agree with the information, but just haven’t formally digested it yet.”

Mary Isaac, SWE Chair, Program Development Grant Committee, is highly dedicated to the initiative of engaging educators in partnership with STEM outreach and advocacy. She stresses the importance of building connections – something that can start simply in your hometown.

“Look up your school district online,” Isaac explains. “Find the science teacher or the vice principal and ask for support. Make the time to visit the school in person and make that face-to-face connection. Become part of the local school board. These are simple things you can do to establish that connection and start building a network. Then provide educators the tools they need to help them guide girls better.”

One of the ways Mary has engaged in partnering with educators is organizing a “road show” at local schools. Mary partnered with seven schools and organized presentations by a dozen volunteers to talk directly in the classroom with students and teachers about engineering. This is a simple way to get involved locally, and you can use your own network of women in STEM to execute.

“There are many schools and teachers who would love to have partners in STEM to work with, but they don’t know that they are available,” Isaac explains. “Doing simple things like reaching out to your local science teacher and going into the classroom to talk directly to the students about engineering will make a big impact.”

[1] Seth, Deeksha, “Building on the experience of enthused women engineers to enhance gender diversity in engineering,” presented at the Society of Women Engineers Region E Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2015.

[2] Girl Scout Research Institute, Generation STEM: What Girls Say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.