The Believe in Girls (BIG) Event provides science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts and educational exhibits to connect Girl Scouts, their families, and the community with opportunities not provided in a standard classroom setting. Local STEM businesses are invited to host a booth and provide hands-on activities that introduce participants (grades K-12) to STEM. Hosted in Minot, Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Sioux Falls, and Rapid City, this expo gives girls an opportunity to explore all the different ways STEM interests can become a career.
This year, we had more than 1,200 people attend a BIG Event across our council to explore STEM with us! Of that, nearly half of those attendees are current Girl Scouts. The rest was families and community members. The BIG Events gave kids the chance to work at their own pace through different STEM-inspired activities and be entertained by science demonstrations.
Girl Scouts and STEM
Research shows that girls are keenly interested in STEM and excel at it. Yet, for a variety of reasons, girls often don’t pursue STEM—starting as early as elementary school.
Girl Scouts lets your girl see that STEM can help her make the world a better place! When girls participate in focused STEM programs, they are more interested in STEM and careers in tech—including app development, robotics, coding, and cybersecurity—and they:
Become better problem-solvers and critical thinkers (OR learn to think scientifically to solve problems) Have confidence in their STEM skills and abilities Get excited about STEM subjects and want to learn more about them Learn the importance and relevance of STEM to people, their society and options for their own career paths
Girls develop a stronger STEM identity.
ecause of their hands-on and supportive nature, Girl Scout STEM programs have positively impacted girls’ self-confidence related to STEM, as well as their confidence overall.
STEM participants credit Girl Scout STEM programs with increasing their confidence in their science and math abilities. Not only do girls indicate that these programs have increased their overall self-confidence.
The increased self-confidence of girls in STEM programs is apparent to the adults who work with them. These adults report that girls in their programs display increased confidence in their science, math, and computer skills —confidence that is reflected in an increased willingness to take on new challenges or try new things.
