Girl Scouts Introduce New “Coding for Good” Badges
The Girl Scouts of America has long empowered female children aged kindergarten through grade 12 to become their best selves.
The organization prides itself on teaching valuable skills like coding as well as fostering entrepreneurship and a spirit of service in the community.
Recently, the Girl Scouts introduced new “Coding for Good” badges which allow members to earn recognition for anything from designing an app to building a better race car.
Given the comparative paucity of women in STEM fields, the organization hopes to encourage more young girls to enter the sciences and technology field. Here’s what the badges entail and how girls can start earning their way to the top.
What Are the Coding for Good Badges?
The Coding for Good badges encompass everything from basic coding skills to full app development. Girls also can earn badges in beginning and advanced cybersecurity, thinking like a programmer and mechanical engineer.
The badges join a host of other recognitions young Girl Scouts can earn for activities like performing outdoor skills, making friends and managing money.
In the past, critics lamented the relative ease with which girls could earn certain badges when compared to their male peers.
How Do the Badges Encourage Young Girls?
The Girl Scouts believe females are natural scientists with their inquisitive eyes constantly scanning the environment and asking questions about it. Because of this, the program offers badges in everything from biological sciences to robotics.
One benefit Girl Scout STEM programs offer is the opportunity to learn by doing with other girls. Out of the girls enrolled in the Girl Scout’s Imagine Your STEM future program, 74 percent indicate they learn more by doing things than by being told them.
In traditional classrooms, girls often feel left behind. Teachers in overcrowded public schools pay more attention to misbehaving students, who are typically male. This leaves many girls who could excel in science and tech fields feeling ignored, leading to lost interest.
Additionally, many girls thrive on competition among their female peers, but in mixed-gender classrooms, the pressure to conform and achieve popularity distracts from academic pursuits. The Girl Scouts offers a single-gender environment where females can thrive and grow, learning from each other as well as the instructor.
One area to witness the accomplishments of girls in such programs is through the Girl Scouts robotic program. Students take part in competitions like the First program to display their technological prowess. The competitions center around the use of such technology to make the world a better place.
Does This Even the Playing Field?
Despite strides forward, women remain underrepresented in STEM fields. In the U.K., for example, women make up less than 15 percent of workers in tech and science fields.
While some point to biological differences in why women turn from the field, research indicates males and females have much more in common intellectually than differences. Why, then, do so many females shy away from tech-related fields?
The true reasons more females don’t enter STEM have more to do with society than biology. One recent study found that by age 6, girls perceived boys as being smarter.
Even though girls perform as well or even better than their male peers, they perceive an inability to excel in STEM fields. The perception of incapability cripples more than a lack of knowledge about the subject.
Here’s where programs like the Girl Scouts have the opportunity to effect real change. By changing the perception of girls from, “Science/technology is too hard to understand,” to, “I can code an app or build a robot,” more women will feel empowered to enter such fields in the future.
Considering many STEM careers pay better than those in the humanities, this represents an important step toward true female liberation.
Enticing More Girls Into STEM Fields
Girls typically stay away from STEM fields not due to any inability to do the work, but out of the perception, however erroneous, they’re not up to the task.
However, programs like the Girl Scouts empower girls with the confidence they need to excel regardless of their field of endeavor.
By getting their female children enrolled in the Girl Scouts, parents encourage their kids to reach for their dreams.
