Today is International Day of the Girl.
The LEGO Group marks International Day of the Girl with a new campaign to encourage girls to stay curious about STEAM subjects and careers.
New and sobering statistics from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and the LEGO Group show girls are still discouraged from STEAM fields from a young age when play is often gender stereotyped.
One statistic in the “Geena Davis Institute LEGO Creativity Study” shows 80 per cent of boys are encouraged to code at a young age, compared with only 20 per cent of girls.
Furthermore, when asked, children as young as six think girls don’t like science. These misconceptions extend into the teen years and adulthood and contribute to the gender gap within STEAM related careers.
To help combat these misconceptions, the LEGO Group is launching an online campaign called ‘Let’s Keep them Curious!’ that includes 5 STEAM play activities which aim to inspire parents to continue to nurture girls’ interests in STEAM by exploring fun LEGO brick challenges.
When asked about the significance of play, nine in ten (88 per cent) parents say that play is important in helping children learn new things, which is nearly as much as the role of school.
Most parents (80 per cent) believe that LEGO play can help develop STEM skills.
Moreover, children love and acknowledge the value of LEGO play and think that it’s fun (97 per cent) and makes them happy (96 per cent).
While seven in ten children also say that they love learning new things through play.
