Inspiring girls to pursue careers in STEM with a mentor-supported robotics project

Abstract

This paper describes an innovative program with Lego Mindstorms NXT designed to interest young girls in careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). A female engineering graduate student mentored the girls registered in the program on a monthly basis at their schools over eight months. The mentor designed a fun robot competition for the girls, for which the girls were free to build any design of robot they thought appropriate using the parts from one Mindstorm kit. The competition was part of the IEEE Western Canadian Robot Games held in May 2010. Surveys were conducted at the beginning and end of this program to measure girls attitudes towards STEM careers, in order to gage the effectiveness of this program. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education.