Nice guest post from Erin Hogeboom, the Community Development and Network Strategy Manager National Girls Collaborative, up on Forbes.
Hidden Figures is an important visualization of the intersectionality of human experience. Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughn were black, women, Southerners, and also mathematicians or engineers. We know girls and women face external hardships while studying and working in STEM, such as micro-aggressions, sexism, isolation, and exclusion. We also know that deterrents such as these increase the underrepresented girl, i.e. a black girl, a Latina girl, or a Native girl. What Hidden Figures has helped to show the public is the identities of black and female were turned into unethical, inefficient, nonsensical obstacles that these remarkably intelligent and driven mathematicians and engineers had to face. The film shows that girls and young women, particularly those also racially underrepresented in STEM, can do anything they set their mind to.
National Girls Collaborative (NGC) implements a tested, comprehensive program of change that uses collaboration to expand and strengthen STEM-related opportunities for girls and women. In each state, the NGC model creates a network of professionals, researchers, and practitioners, facilitating collaboration and delivering high-quality research-based professional development. We strengthen the capacity of projects by sharing research-based exemplary practices, program models and products. We train and mentor participants to collaborate and create partnerships at the state and local level. Through this network, we work with over 22,800 organizations that are dedicated to effectively serving girls in STEM. By connecting these organizations with one another, NGC fosters an environment of collaboration which ultimately benefits the girls being served by these programs.
Each Tuesday is EducationTuesday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts about educators and all things STEM. Adafruit supports our educators and loves to spread the good word about educational STEM innovations!