The workplace is changing. So are the skills that employers need. Beyond the traditional career paths requiring a background in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), employers are seeking the skills that STEM helps to foster. To fill the market demand, we need to inspire girls and boys through process praise to pursue a career in STEM.
For over 15 years I have been working to move the needle on gender balance in engineering. In Canada, only eleven percent of engineers and 18 percent of the new engineering graduates are women.
The data show that girls and boys equally have intelligence and obtain similar results on OECD’s science test and international math tests. Moreover, they both have the performance traits to be high performers in the STEM fields. However, only one in twenty girls and one in five boys are considering a career in STEM.
So, what’s the problem?
Too many girls and some boys quit science and math because they do not think that they are smart enough to be successful. According to the OECD, the gender stereotyping from an early age, of boys being better at math and science discourages girls from studying STEM subjects.
All kids are born curious. Almost all are creative geniuses. I have shared NASA research showing the percent of children falling in the genius category of imagination at various ages:
- 98 percent between ages 4 and 5
- 30 percent of ten-year-olds
- 12 percent of fifteen-year-olds
What about us adults? How many of us are still in contact with our creative genius after years of schooling? Sadly, only 2 percent.
Generally, kids get a solid education in science, technology, engineering, and math at school. However, those classes only inspire a lifelong interest in these fields for twenty percent of boys and five percent of girls. As parents, there are a lot of easy ways we foster a greater love of learning and exploration in STEM subjects in our children.
Early exposure to STEM increases a student's confidence. These students are more likely to fall in love with science. This confidence builds and allows students to stay on a STEM pathway. Moreover, making STEM fun and engaging for kids will keep them curious along with their creative genius.
Praise and Insecurity
The ‘self-esteem movement’ came to prominence in the 1980s. It advocated that praise and positive encouragement is something you cannot have too much of. We thought that if a little praise is right, then a ton of appreciation must be even better.
However, by praising a child’s intelligence can make them feel even more insecure. Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford and a self-esteem expert, offers a way out of the problem. A transcript of Alexandra Ossola’s discussion with Prof. Dweck that appeared in the Atlantic is an excellent read on this subject.
Many students find STEM subjects difficult. Laura Overdeck’s TEDx Talk on math anxiety is outstanding. It puts things in perspective. With the pressure to get good grades in high school to get into higher education students drop STEM courses.
My son’s grade 11 Physics teacher stated in his first class that his course was the most difficult in the school. My son and many of his classmates followed the path of least resistance and dropped out. Admission to architecture, most applied science, engineering, industrial design, and premedical majors require physics. So, imagine if this teacher had inspired this cohort of students. Some of them may have become great engineers and gone on to solve some of the world’s grand challenges. However, his approach nudged them to self-eliminate engineering as a possible career.
One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” ―Malala Yousafzai
Learning in STEM requires repeated trial and error. A lack of confidence stands in the way of a student’s success. Teachers and parents inadvertently help kids make up their minds early on that they are not cut out for STEM. These signals lead them to pursue other subjects and eliminates many career options. While many of these students will have the performance traits to be a high performer in STEM, they will not have the opportunity to develop the required talent stack.
I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” —Albert Einstein
Help kids stay in STEM
Dweck has conducted many studies about praise’s impact on students’ self-esteem and academic achievement.
At the height, the gurus of the self-esteem movement told parents and teachers to praise kids to the hills. The advice was to show them how talented, intelligent, brilliant they were. The goal was to boost their confidence and set them up for a successful life.
However, when we think that our talent is fixed—we become vulnerable. We are not willing to take on challenges that might test our ability. For students, they become less resilient to challenge obstacles.
Process Praise
Parents and teachers often praise the ability, the talent, or the intelligence of their student too much. When you focus your praise on the process, the child engages in their improvement — their perseverance, their hard work, trying many strategies, their focusing on effort, and uses their errors to learn and grow.
Dweck conducted a study where she observed mothers interacting with their child who was between the ages of one and three-years-old. The more a mother offered process praise, the more their kids had a growth mindset. Interestingly, gender was relevant. The child’s growth mindset continued five years later and beyond. The mothers gave their sons more process praise than they gave their daughters. She found the same gender bias in teachers giving feedback.
However, parents and teachers were not favouring boys. Parents tend to have to work harder to engage boys and keep them engaged in an interactive activity, as girls are more socially tuned in even as infants. Thus, they are easier to engage, and girls tend to more able to maintain interaction. So, parents’ praise tends to be more narrating and commenting on what the boy is doing. There is more praise for the strategies the boy is trying, and more recognition for attention and persistence. This approach is process praise.
You do better when you pay attention and work hard
Paying attention and working hard is central to process praise. Many see that a “balance” mindset is a zero-sum mindset – ‘If I’m going to be successful in my career, I’m going to have to give up everything else in my life that I want.’
However, that is not true. When parents think of trade-offs and balance, they automatically shift to other parts of their kid’s assets. You need to change your mindset and think, ‘What actions can I take that will expand future opportunities’– that’s when you see the possibilities and create more freedom for your children.
Praise feels terrific
When someone provides me with praise, I feel great. I get a warm glow inside. Moreover, the quickest way to get around someone is to flatter them. You likely have enjoyed being praised too.
Praise is powerful at any age. Some see that being a good parent has become synonymous with giving out ability praise. Moreover, parents still think this is the greatest gift they can give to their child. However, as a child gets more and more insecure, parents give more and more of it.
I know many managers who have said,
My employees cannot get through the day without accolades and validation.”
In our feedback and coaching sessions, it is challenging to offer developmental goals for people who have been continuously praised. They feel that we are crushing them. Today, there are several generations of fragile individuals because they have been over-praised. Thus, they find anything but praise to be overwhelming feedback.
We coach people to use learning feedback.
The unintended consequences of excessive praise
A 1998 study reported on children who were rewarded for just ‘doing their own thing’ – drawing, playing and so on. It showed that when the rewards were discontinued, the children tended to lose interest in the activity.
A child went from being satisfied with the enjoyment of doing the activity itself, an intrinsic reward, to doing the activity for an external reward, a contingent reward. Moreover, the conditional reward reduced the appeal of an intrinsic reward. So, the children stopped seeking satisfaction from doing the activity itself. They started expecting it from a source outside the activity, such as the praise of an adult. If this outside reward was not forthcoming, they lost interest.
So, expecting praise for doing things can soon make that thing seem not worth doing at all if you do not get the recognition. Moreover, there is an even more significant danger of becoming addicted to praise.
Foster resilience to STEM obstacles
You are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. Like a muscle, you can build it up, draw on it when you need it. In that process, you will figure out who you really are — and you just might become the very best version of yourself.” — Sheryl Sandburg, COO, Facebook
Praise may not be the optimal way. We need to keep kids curious. STEM activities are a journey of discovery. Show interest in what the child is doing. Ask them questions about their process:
- How did you do that?
- Tell me about it.
As they talk about their process and the strategies they tried, appreciate, be interested and encourage it. Your feedback does not have to be outright praise; your interest inspires them to keep exploring. You want them not to let their creative genius atrophy.
What STEM promotes is that when you’re teaching the academic skills, they need to learn, you’re actually making a connection with them and with the real world, so they can see why they need to learn it.” — Michelle Howard, a 2nd-grade teacher
Inspiring STEM
We support student career success by helping the student find the pathway to career success and satisfaction. We encourage them to explore all career options that align with their strengths. We enjoy doing what we do well. We point out careers that students have never heard of and ask them to check them out.
The best way to predict your future is to create it.” — Abraham Lincoln
I encourage all STEM professionals to get involved in supporting and inspiring kids to explore careers in STEM. More than half of Canada’s engineering students have a parent or close relative in engineering. It is little wonder that the face of engineering is changing so slowly.
I have been fortunate to be able to attend hundreds of STEM events. I did it with a hope to inspire students by communicating my love of engineering, to show them what is possible through STEM. However, at the end of the events, I am the one feeling truly inspired and uplifted after meeting such an ambitious, motivated, and brilliant set of young people.
There are numerous excellent organizations doing STEM outreach. Get involved as a volunteer in your community. It is gratifying.
One of my most popular posts was Forget Princess; I want to be an astrophysicist. With news that renowned astrophysicist Dr. Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76, my niece paid the highest tribute anyone can; she is inspiring her daughter Darcy (9 months) to be an astrophysicist!
Dr. Hawking’s theory and work have shaped the current education in physics and cosmology. He was an advocate for science, believing that all people should have access to higher education in the sciences. In a world that is so full of preconceived judgements, it is an important and beautiful thing for one of our most influential people to only see people for their mind. This gives me hope for the world my daughter will grow up in.” – Breanna Allen
An open mind keeps options open
Across many industries and positions, STEM education is the “secret to success.” It provides a rich toolbox to access a dream job and achieve a fulfilling career.
Many adults must return to school because they lack the tools STEM prerequisites required to access the opportunities they want. Students do not always realize this fact.
Many high-school students know that STEM learning is beneficial for the jobs of the future. However, frequently they do not put that understanding into practice. They follow the path of least resistance. We need young people to think about careers and the world of possibility that will be available to then with STEM learning.
The quality, relevance, and impact of the products and services output by the technology sector can only be improved by having the people who are building them be demographically representative of the people who are using them.”—Tracy Chou
Tips and Resources
Laura Schoppe, founder and president of Fuentek, LLC, and a STEM volunteer offers the following advice if you are going to visit a classroom to speak with students:
- Connect with the kids on a personal level — You used to be just like them! Inspiration comes from helping the kids paint a picture from where they are to what you are. Here’s a variation on the question game using playing cards, that she found useful for speaking with younger students.
- Make it entertaining and exciting for them — Talk about technologies they know, however, do not get overly technical. Talk about your everyday activities. By focusing on things, they can relate to and understand; you will hold their attention longer.
- Be casual — Do not use PowerPoint unless it has a lot of cool pictures. Dressing casually is an excellent way to be approachable; however, check with teachers first to make sure they are not trying to teach them about how to dress for success.
- Bring good swag — Everyone loves swag. However, make sure the stuff you give the kids is what they will care about. (She takes earbuds to the kids.) It is better not to provide them with anything than to give swag that is dull, too young, or passé.
- Focus on the options — One of the beautiful things about having a STEM degree is the full range of jobs you can have. Talk about what you do, however, also discuss how you got there and the other options that will be available to them later if they get into STEM now. For example, Schoppe used to have a motorcycle. She would tell the kids about how she took a ride every morning and made the connection that it was possible because Schoppe owned a business that was possible because she got a STEM degree.
I offer free resources for students on my website. For example, the Hamilton project maps the college degree to where people end up and how much money they make.
Concluding Thoughts
Predictions for future jobs in the fourth Industrial Revolution emphasize the need for technical understanding, creative ingenuity, and non-cognitive skills.
So, these jobs will require STEM learning along with the high levels of communications and creative thinking skills that creative arts provide. I advocate combining engineering, liberal arts, and the humanities. We need educational programs that integrate learning experiences in the humanities and arts with science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEAMM).
This understanding will lead to improved educational and career outcomes. It explores evidence about the value of integrating curricula and experiences in the arts and humanities into college and university STEAMM education programs.
We should not divide our young people into the scientists and the artists. It is a false dichotomy and one which will not help future employability. We need to recognize STEAMM skills for young people, where creative arts sit comfortably alongside STEMM learning. It is a radical change in thinking that we need to embrace if we are to equip our youth for future jobs properly. Many of which have not even been thought of yet.
We need to understand that if we all work on inclusion together, it’s going to be faster, broader, better, and more thorough than anything we can do on our own.”—Ellen Pao
Finally, the first step, we must challenge prejudices, preconceptions and gender stereotyping about STEM. We need to dispel incorrect notions such as, “math isn’t for girls,” and “only geeky boys are good at physics” if every child is to believe that a STEM career is a genuine possibility for them. Our future diverse workforce will move our global society to a better standard of living.
Your Challenge — What's Right For You?
Did you know that:
- 40% of College students don’t graduate
- 80% of College students change majors — on average three times
- 50%+ of College grads believe they got the wrong degree
- On average it takes six years to earn a four-year degree
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