February 11, 2021 marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. According to the United Nations:
“Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past 15 years, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science.
At present, less than 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are women. According to UNESCO data (2014 – 2016), only around 30 per cent of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. Globally, female students’ enrolment is particularly low in ICT (3 per cent), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5 per cent) and in engineering, manufacturing and construction (8 per cent).
Long-standing biases and gender stereotypes are steering girls and women away from science related fields. As in the real world, the world on screen reflects similar biases—the 2015 Gender Bias Without Borders study by the Geena Davis Institute showed that of the onscreen characters with an identifiable STEM job, only 12 per cent were women.” (https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20achieve%20full,Women%20and%20Girls%20in%20Science)
On February 11, from 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET, join STAO and Bryan Casey from Ingenium to learn more about Women in STEM resources that will help you in making visible some of the many accomplishments of women in STEM. Although this presentation is aimed primarily at educators from grades 4-6, the activities can be adapted to higher grade levels.
A major initiative from Ingenium includes free, downloadable women in STEM posters and lesson plans. Colourful posters, accompanied with lesson plans, will allow you to discuss issues such as gendering, patriarchy and bias in an open discussion, with students of all ages. Use the posters to inspire students. The accompanying discussion guides propose how to explore issues relating to women in STEM with your students, addressing barriers faced by women, and all marginalized groups, in the STEM fields, their impact, and how we can mitigate them.
Join us to talk #WomeninScience and leave with practical and easy-to-implement activities for your classroom! Click here to register (please note that you must be signed into your STAO account to access the registration page).