What is it about?
This paper describes the design of an outreach program that provided a learning experience on the nature of engineering (via community service activities) to school girls aged 10 to 13 years in New Zealand. The objective of the program was to raise aspirations of young girls to pursue a career in engineering, by demonstrating the social benefits of engineering and thus develop enthusiasm for STEM subjects applied in the context of humanitarian engineering.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
The representation of women in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and professions fall far short of their representation in other various disciplines. Finding ways to increase underrepresented populations in STEM fields continues to be a major initiative in education. Outreach programs that demonstrate the social benefits of engineering are an effective way to engage students’ interest and enhance their understanding of the theory and practice of science and engineering.
Perspectives
We have an issue that only 12% of women are represented in the engineering profession and that the pipeline for attracting young girls needs to be improved. The research tests the hypothesis whether outreach programmes can inspire girls to engage in STEM subjects by demonstrating the social benefits of engineering, which is an emerging idea in this field of getting women into engineering. It involved developing a bespoke national outreach programme, which was based on humanitarian engineering (water and sanitation, renewable energy, shelter). A pre/post survey was conducted on 95 girls aged 10-13. The early indicators of this new research provided results that the programme met the hypothesis.
Ishani Soysa
Massey University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A New Zealand National Outreach Program – Inspiring Young Girls in Humanitarian Engineering, International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship, November 2017, Queen's University Library,
DOI: 10.24908/ijsle.v12i2.7551.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
