Pretty Curious - Inspiring Girls Into STEM Careers

As a mother of two girls and an avid feminist myself I have always wanted to make sure that my daughters know that the world is their oyster, that their gender is not a barrier to anything that they want to achieve. I'm constantly reminding them that girls can do anything that boys can do - in fact, we can do one more thing - have babies!

I'm working with EDF Energy to publicise their new campaign Pretty Curious which aims to raise awareness of the lack of females in STEM careers. Did you know that just one in four people working in core STEM roles in the UK are women? That's a shocking statistic to be presented with in 2017. I'd love for that figure to change for the better, and there is only one way to do that - we need to positively encourage our girls into looking at STEM careers as serious options, and not just something that boys do.

EDF Energy is a large company and it is reliant on the upcoming generation and their STEM skills to not only deliver a low-carbon energy future but also to create a smarter energy solutions. They want to be able to recruit from the widest possible talent pool and this includes our girls. We all know that there is absolutely no reason why girls can't be just as capable in these types of jobs as boys, they just might need a little encouragement to look beyond the gender bias they are naturally presented with.

EDF Energy's campaign, Pretty Curious is now entering its third year and is focused on raising awareness of the under-representation of girls in STEM and giving girls relatable role models. They want to inspire girls to take STEM related subjects at school and to consider STEM related careers. The campaign has given girls a real sense of what it might be like to work in STEM careers by providing hands-on experiences and digital content, which you can take part in yourselves on the website.

Future Me avatar and quiz

Bean loved creating an avatar of herself. This tool is great because at the end she could place her avatar in a picture and imagine herself in a STEM career. I think she makes a great biotechnologist!

 

Virtual reality film

On the website you can watch 360º videos to experience a day in the life of the architect of the Shard, see what it's like to work on a wind farm or explore the offices of a software developer with our everyday amazing women. It's great to be able to show my girls real women working in these careers. They thought it was pretty cool to watch it with the VR headset that EDF Energy kindly sent us too.

One of the problems with encouraging girls into considering STEM careers is that they simply don't have the role models to identify with. These videos help to address that problem.

Parents quiz

You can take the new parents quiz and see what STEM-related career would best suit your children. Identify their strengths, plus discover information and guidance on pursuing a career in that particular role once you receive your results. This is a great tool, if like me, you don't have much practical knowledge of STEM careers but want to be able to encourage your children to look in this direction if they want to.

I took the quiz for both of my girls - Bean came out as a Biotechnologist which is funny considering that's the same result as her avatar! Little Miss J came out as an Architect which is interesting as it's a career option that I had never considered for her, despite her avid interest and talent in drawing. Taking this quiz has helped me to see that certain traits and characteristics they have might very well lend themselves well to certain STEM careers.

EDF Energy very kindly sent us this amazing littleBits Star Wars Drone kit which I will be helping the girls to build and play with over the Christmas holidays. Keep an eye on my Instastories and YouTube channel to see how we get on!

Do you have daughters? I'd love to know what you think about EDF Energy's campaign and inspiring girls into STEM careers.

Disclosure - this is a collaborative post