Education and Child Development

Study Finds Girls Want STEM Careers, But Are Unsure if They're Smart Enough: “ROX just released the latest version of its study, The Girls' Index, which examines girls' experiences, behaviors, and aspirations. The findings are grim regarding girls and STEM careers. Despite a growing interest in STEM fields, girls' confidence in their abilities is declining. Only 59% feel they're proficient in math and science—a decrease from 73% in 2017. And, 58% of high school girls believe they are not smart enough to pursue their dream job, an increase from 46% in 2017. ‘This isn't about ability,’ says Lisa Hinkelman, PhD, founder and CEO of ROX and author of The Girls' Index. ‘It's about perception and confidence. Girls are internalizing messages from society, media, and even well-meaning adults that subtly, but persistently, undermine their belief in their STEM capabilities. They're navigating a minefield of societal pressures, with a staggering 89% reporting pressure to fit into specific roles and stereotypes.’ This confidence gap the ROX study uncovered is exacerbated by a lack of visible role models in STEM and persistent stereotypes about who ‘belongs’ in these fields, says Dr. Hinkelman. ‘Even when girls [excel] academically in math and science, they often aren't encouraged to see themselves as future STEM leaders.’ The issue is that while girls' interest in STEM is growing, their belief in their ability to succeed in these fields is shrinking, she says. ‘This disconnect is not just a personal issue for these girls—it's a societal loss. We're at risk of missing out on a generation of innovative thinkers and problem solvers simply because they don't believe they're smart enough.’” Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eT7B2puT #WomenInSTEM #GirlsInSTEM #STEMGems #GiveGirlsRoleModels

“Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.”  – proposition nr. 6 that accompanied my PhD thesis.   Whenever I shared with my male colleagues that I did not always feel welcome or safe in the predominantly male field that I worked in, I was always met with disbelief. “I don’t feel like that’s true” I would hear from the man sitting in front of me when I shared the numbers, the proven trends and the systemic biases that I got from the literature. Then, when I chose to share my personal and painful anecdotes of things that had happened to me, I got told that that was bad but also that it is “not all men” and maybe they didn’t mean it like that. More out of frustration than anything else, I chose to add an extra section to my thesis next to the acknowledgements, a section for my “anti acknowledgements”.  My goal here was not to blame individual people. I just wanted to prove the point of my 6th proposition: I had been told explicitly and implicitly that I shouldn’t be a scientist often enough that it had eaten away at my confidence and joy. When I said I didn't feel welcome, this is what I meant. I am sad to say that if I were to leave science, this would be my biggest reason for that. And I know for a fact that I am not alone. If we want to create a welcoming scientific environment for every person, we have to actively champion the people who currently do not make up a representative part of the scientific community. It is not enough to just not be mean to people, because the truth is that there are plenty of people who will. If we want to keep women and girls in science, we all have to actively take part in welcoming them, including them and cheering them on from the start. In a world full of Warners, be an Elle Woods.

As GenAI becomes more ubiquitous, research alarmingly shows that women are using these tools at lower rates than men across nearly all regions, sectors, and occupations.   A recent paper from researchers at Harvard Business School, Berkeley, and Stanford synthesizes data from 18 studies covering more than 140k individuals worldwide.   Their findings:   • Women are approximately 22% less likely than men to use GenAI tools • Even when controlling for occupation, age, field of study, and location, the gender gap remains • Web traffic analysis shows women represent only 42% of ChatGPT users and 31% of Claude users   Factors Contributing the to Gap:   - Lack of AI Literacy: Multiple studies showed women reporting significantly lower familiarity with and knowledge about generative AI tools as the largest gender gap driver. - Lack of Training & Confidence: Women have lower confidence in their ability to effectively use AI tools and more likely to report needing training before they can benefit from generative AI.   - Ethical Concerns & Fears of Judgement: Women are more likely to perceive AI usage as unethical or equivalent to cheating, particularly in educational or assignment contexts. They’re also more concerned about being judged unfairly for using these tools.   The Potential Impacts: - Widening Pay & Opportunity Gap: Considerably lower AI adoption by women creates further risk of them falling behind their male counterparts, ultimately widening the gender gap in pay and job opportunities. - Self-Reinforcing Bias: AI systems trained primarily on male-generated data may evolve to serve women's needs poorly, creating a feedback loop that widens existing gender disparities in technology development and adoption.   As educators and AI literacy advocates, we face an urgent responsibility to close this gap and simply improving access is not enough. We need targeted AI literacy training programs, organizations committed to developing more ethical GenAI, and safe and supportive communities like our Women in AI + Education to help bridge this expanding digital divide.   Link to the full study in the comments. And a link also to learn more or join our Women in AI + Education Community. AI for Education #Equity #GenAI #Ailiteracy #womeninAI

I attended a girls' school from classes 6-12, and I loved it. It shaped my confidence and influenced my personality. Just a generation ago, very few girls had the opportunity to have formal schooling. My mother went to school until Class 5, and then she was not allowed to study anymore. We stand on the shoulders of others before us. I often muse about the history that brought us to the opportunities we take for granted. Women's education is one of them. In 1848, a young Savitribai Phule did something unthinkable—she opened the first school for girls in India. At a time when educating women was considered radical, Savitribai, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule, opened the doors for generations of women to pursue their right to education. Life wasn't easy for Savitribai, born in the village of Satara in 1831, the youngest of four children in a socially backward community. At the age of 9, she was already married to Jyotirao. But luckily for her, her husband was a far-sighted social activist who encouraged the then-illiterate Savitribai to start learning. And how much she loved learning! So much so that Savitribai would go on to get trained as a teacher herself. And it wasn't easy then, either. 1848 saw the opening of Bhide Wada, the first school for girls in Pune and India. Life became worse afterward. She was India's first woman teacher. The first woman principal. And that irked the patriarchy. Savitribai faced constant harassment — she was forced to carry an extra saree with her to school because stones and cow dung were thrown at her when she walked to school. But nothing would deter her. Savitribai didn’t stop at education. She fought for women’s rights, set up shelters for widows, and stood against child marriage. Her poetry was a rallying cry for equality. Written in Marathi, these poems made her one of India's earliest feminist voices. In 1897, when a plague epidemic broke out in Pune, Savitribai and Jyotirao were at the forefront, caring for the sick. Sadly, she contracted the disease herself and passed away. Today, we wear the mantle of education lightly. But it's because of Savitribai that we can rest easy knowing the right to education is a fundamental right for every child, no matter their gender. This is part of a series on India’s Unsung Women. Source: The Logical Indian #Feminism #Gender #WomenEmpowerment #Education #India

Girls start school just as capable in math. So why does the gender gap widen within months? This chart is both fascinating and troubling. It tracks all children in France who began school in 2018. At the start, boys and girls scored similarly in mathematics. But just four months in, boys begin to pull ahead. By the start of the second year, the gap is no longer subtle—it’s systemic. The data points to a hard truth: the gender gap in math isn’t innate. It’s learned. Girls are subtly (and not so subtly) steered away from math from the earliest stages of education. The result? Fewer girls in STEM, fewer women in high-earning tech roles, and yet another pipeline problem that starts before they even learn multiplication. For those of us advising on leadership, equity, and talent strategy, this matters. Because the solution isn’t just in university quotas or boardroom targets. It starts in the classroom. The future of innovation demands that we rethink how we educate and who we empower—early. #Leadership #STEM #Education #GenderEquity #WomenInTech #FutureOfWork

Energy consumption soars 50% by 2030. A desert school in India stays cool without AC. 400 girls learn what nature already knew. In Jaisalmer's 45°C heat, this oval building defies physics. No cooling systems. No power bills. Just ancient wisdom shaped by New York architects and local artisans. Think about that. Traditional Desert Schools: ↳ AC units running 24/7 ↳ Monthly power bills: ₹200,000+ ↳ Breaks down in sandstorms ↳ Students suffer when grid fails Jaisalmer's Natural Reality: ↳ Zero artificial cooling ↳ Local sandstone insulation ↳ Traditional building techniques ↳ Cool classrooms year-round But here's what stopped me cold: While the world installs more AC units to fight rising heat—accelerating the very problem they solve—these 400 girls study comfortably in nature's own cooling system. Diana Kellogg Architects didn't import solutions. They asked local craftsmen who've built in deserts for centuries. The answer? Jaisalmer sandstone. Thick walls. Strategic curves. Techniques their grandfathers knew. The girls wear Sabyasachi-designed uniforms—elegant blue kurtis with violet trousers—donated free. Because empowerment shouldn't look like charity. What happens when tradition meets innovation: ↳ Construction cost: 70% less than modern schools ↳ Operating cost: Near zero ↳ Local artisans employed: Dozens ↳ Girls educated: 400 and growing The Multiplication Effect: 1 school built = 400 futures changed 10 schools copying = 4,000 girls empowered 100 desert communities adapting = energy crisis avoided At scale = cooling without warming the planet Traditional architecture fights climate. This school works with it. We're installing 10 new AC units every second globally. Meanwhile, a golden oval in the desert proves we already had the answer. Because when energy demand rises 50% by 2030, the solution isn't more power. It's remembering what we forgot. Follow me, Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld for proof that ancient wisdom beats modern waste. ♻️ Share if schools should teach sustainability by being sustainable.

👩🏽🦱👦 Being a dad to twins, a boy and a girl, has been one of the greatest joys of my life. But it’s also made me painfully aware of something else: how early gender bias creeps in. Even at school, you see the subtle (and not-so-subtle) signals, what toys they’re “meant” to play with, what subjects they’re “good” at, what ambitions feel “acceptable.” Those signals turn into habits. Habits turn into systems. And those systems mean men and women get very different opportunities in life. And it doesn’t stop at childhood. We see the same story playing out in the climate and innovation space: Only ~3% of global VC funding goes to women-led startups. Just 10% of senior roles in PE/VC are held by women. Women are disproportionately impacted by climate change, yet underrepresented as funders, founders, decision-makers. That’s not just unfair, it’s a massive missed opportunity. Because if we’re serious about solving climate change, we need all the talent, creativity, and leadership we can get. That’s why at Planet Rise and Wavemaker Impact we’re actively: ✅ Building a pipeline of women climate founders ✅ Backing female-led startups tackling emissions at scale ✅ Partnering with mission-driven organisations to drive gender-smart investing 🌍 The climate crisis is the biggest challenge of our time. We won’t solve it with half the leadership talent left on the sidelines.

NITI Aayog ranks India’s performance on SDG 5 as the lowest among all SDGs. Recent cases of child marriage highlight that, despite progress, sustained efforts are needed to prevent girls from being rushed into marriage—a practice that disrupts education and increases vulnerability to violence. Early marriage limits girls’ education and job prospects while exposing them to greater risks of violence. Laws alone are ineffective without societal change. The NFHS-5 reports a rise in the median age of first marriage from 17.2 years in 2005–06 to 19.2 years in 2019–21. Yet, in eight states, 40% of girls still marry early, mostly from poor girls with little or no education. Also, 1 in 3 women experience intimate partner violence, with lower education levels increasing vulnerability. Beyond Enrolment Overcrowded schools, insensitive teachers, and outdated curricula fail to create real change. The 2023–24 UDISE highlights a shortage of secondary and higher secondary schools, leading to high dropout rates. Retention drops from 85% at the primary level to 63.8% in secondary school and plummets to 45.6% at the higher secondary level. Schools also reinforce social inequalities of caste, class, and gender. Without addressing these systemic barriers, education alone cannot delay marriage. Education, Work, and the Marriage Trap Each additional year of education increases a woman’s earning potential. Limited job opportunities in India hinder such progress. Also, as chores are not seen as conflicting with schooling, marriage is not perceived as disruptive—even though it often is. Gender-Based Violence and Early Marriage Early marriage both results from and contributes to gender-based violence. NFHS-5 data shows a strong link between early marriage and intimate partner violence. The widespread fear of sexual assault also often compels families to marry off their daughters early, believing it ensures their safety. Policy Interventions Conditional Cash Transfer programs incentivize families to delay marriage by offering payments for keeping daughters in school until they are 18. However, these schemes are often perceived as ‘bribes’ rather than fostering real attitudinal change. In the 1990s, the Mahila Samakhya initiative formed Sanghas (women’s groups) that advocated for girls' education, established residential institutions and engaged parents in school committees. These efforts created a social consensus that naturally delayed marriage. Tamil Nadu has policies such as training subsidies, hostels for working women, and free bus travel. These initiatives not only help women realize their potential but also shift societal norms, making education, employment, and then marriage the new norm. International Women’s Day is a reminder of the need to create a world where women and girls have equal access to education and employment, live free from violence, and pursue their aspirations. Delaying marriage is vital to achieving this.

Why do people still think feminism is about hating men? Instead of equality for all? Feminism has been a journey of evolution for me. I have been deeply influenced by the books I've read over the years. Here are some that have shaped my understanding: 1) A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf: I loved how Woolf argues that women need their own space, both physically and mentally. She emphasises that this space is essential for creativity and independence. Inspired by her, even though I live with my partner, I still have a separate room where I work. It allows me to maintain a balance between my professional and personal life. 2) The Color Purple by Alice Walker: Her book showed me the strength and identity of black women through intimate letters between a mother and daughter. This book helped me understand the relationship with my mother. It is far from being perfect. There were times I didn't agree with her decisions. But, I now understand they were made from the realities and challenges of her era. 3) We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: This book talks about black feminism. It serves as a powerful reminder that feminism is about equality for everyone. In my own home, I've made a conscious effort to change this. I ensure that our domestic helpers are treated with the utmost respect and given the appreciation they deserve. Simple acts like saying "please" and "thank you," can make a significant difference. 4) Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez: This book opened my eyes to gender biases in data and design. One striking example is how car seats are primarily designed for men. As a result, safety features like seat belts and airbags are optimised for male physiology. Office air conditioning systems are also based on a formula that uses the metabolic rate of a 40-year-old, 70 kg man. This can leave women feeling cold. Many PPE items, including safety vests, helmets, and gloves, are designed to fit average male body dimensions. 5) Coming Out as Dalit by Yashica Dutt: Her memoir showed me the challenges faced by Dalit women in India. Inspired by her story, I began hiring women from underprivileged backgrounds and offering resources to support their growth. This book shattered the misconception that caste discrimination exists only in rural areas, It threw light on the presence of caste discrimination in urban environments as well. Tell us about your favourite books in the comments section! —-----------------------------