There are programs that are designed for girls But, if you read the fine print, ANYONE can join.
It's important for girls to see themselves as capable of things they are capable of and not limit themselves to things that boys or other girls or cultural pressures say they are capable of.
I think there are several problems with this:
1. Getting girls to go into a field that may not want them can be a rude awakening.
2. Resentment of people that were "helped" vs those who did it on their own.
3. If girls are on all girl teams in an area where they are very much the minority, they aren't learning teamwork in the same way as the boys are.
Some girls do not want "girls in STEM" programming and feel it sets them apart and starts with the premise that they can't do it on their own.
But there are a lot of positives too:
1. Exposes girls to something they may have assumed they couldn't or shouldn't do.
2. Increases the number of girls in STEM programming which will increase girls in the workforce and begin to force the change to a time when girls are accepted for their value without the girl caveat coloring things.
3. Teaches boys to work with girls (if the girls are not fully segregated) so they are ready to work with girls in the STEM workforce.
4. Builds a generation of change.
I have a girl going into engineering and I'm really not sure engineering is ready for her. Lots of reservations on my part. I've worked with her on how to "handle" herself in various situations, but if some people will not accept a girl's participation, no matter what she does, she is unlikely to able to fully contribute her value.
One thing she's doing is applying only to colleges that do not offer preference to girls in the engineering program. (DYS kid with very strong stats).
Please don't take anything I'm about to say personally, because I wouldn't want this to be perceived as a mischaracterization of your views, which seem on the whole to be very fair (which is why I'm careful to quote your whole post, and not just select the part I'm interested in responding to). What follows is not criticism of you, but on the existing perceived social structures that you have observed.
That list of "problems" is one that can easily be shredded, so we're left with no downsides:
1) We're talking about fields who have given us the term "disruptive innovation." So, get ready for disruption. Next?
2) Nobody accomplishes anything on their own. Everybody gets help. Next?
3) Is that a bad thing? The First Lego League competition my DD participated in saw the trophy handed to a team formed by a local Girl Scouts troop. They must have been doing
something better.
Done. Bring on positive change.
