Encouraging Girls to Tinker

When I was a little girl I remember wondering why my dad would ask my brother to help fix the lawnmower or my bicycle, but I was not asked to help. I would stomp my feet, stick my lip out, and pout. My dad in his traditional way would ever so sweetly explain to me that I was a girl and my brother was a boy. Boys did boy things and girls did girl things. I was not encouraged to tinker in tasks that were looked upon as a role of a different gender. Fortunately for my dad, I was a tomboy and would prove to him that I could do it too. This meant that I had to lay my Barbie dolls aside and head to the farm whenever I saw an open opportunity.

According to "Teaching Girls to Tinker," girls are becoming just as good academically as boys. Recent studies have noted an increase on girls' math testing scores compared to that of boys. I feel that this is an exciting accomplishment and opportunity for many reasons. Now girls can have more confidence in learning about subjects that used to boggle their minds.

Tinkering means to meddle with or to fix an object that is broken. Like my experience with my dad, many girls are not encouraged to tinker. This old fashion and traditional way of thinking needs to change. Girls are capable of tinkering just like boys. Raising the standard of expectations for girls will enable them to wonder about how things work or why something is made a particular way.

However, there is still a negative factor that discourages many girls from tinkering. Adults such as parents and teachers are not allowing girls enough time to tinker. Girls are not given the patience from their elders to figure out how to repair broken items. Boys are expected to figure out how something works and they are given the time to determine how an object should be repaired. Teachers who give girl students the time to tinker in or outside of the classroom will more than likely see an interest in mechanical reasoning.

Encouraging girls to tinker will benefit them in many ways. It will help them in their reasoning skills, mechanical skills, math skills, and science skills. Also, girls who tinker may show more interest in majoring in engineering fields as well as computer science fields. I feel that now is the time to encourage girls to tinker.

Damour, Lisa. "Teaching Girls to Tinker." EdWeek. 15 Jan. 2010 http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/11/11/11damour.h29.html?qs=girls+education

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