In addition to offering all of our children the opportunity to engage with STEAM activities, we have to support them in developing the confidence that they can succeed in these arenas. However, children pick up on cultural and gender stereotypes at a very young age. Some of those stereotypes signal that girls and women are not as capable as boys and men are at performing well in STEAM activities. Sadly, these false beliefs seem to escalate as children grow. For example, when asked to draw a scientist, six-year-old girls often (70% of the time) drew a female scientist. As girls matured, however, fewer and fewer drew scientists who were female until, by age 16, only 25% drew female scientists. At every age, boys drew male scientists. And at every age, almost all children drew scientists who were white (Terada, 2019). It is therefore not surprising that there are far fewer women than men working in STEAM fields, and those women, particularly women of color, who do pursue careers in these fields very seldom attain leadership roles. The common misperception still seems to be that “girls are better at reading and writing, but boys are better at science and math.” These stereotypes are perpetuated through media, including many of the books that children read, because they contain few examples of women, especially Latinas and Black women, succeeding and leading in STEAM careers. Your Rising Voices Library addresses this gap by showcasing female role models who represent a variety of cultures, ethnicities, and STEAM interests. These texts and the discussions you and your students will have about them will help combat the false perception that girls and women cannot thrive in STEAM classes or careers. The Rising Voices Teacher’s Guide and Teaching Cards support using the library to foster literacy, success with STEAM concepts, and social-emotional learning. We hope this library will help all of your children develop a broader understanding of the importance of STEAM pursuits, and learn that they can become the STEAM leaders of the future.
Teacher’s Guide • 5
Teacher’s Guide Sampler 3
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs