Engineering is a Winner at an All-Girls’ School
Few schools in the United States offer pre-engineering courses targeting girls. That makes the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Md., somewhat unusual. Four years ago, teacher Chris Lee created a pre-engineering course at the all-girls school, and it’s become a huge success, reports the Washington Post.
The course is open to a range of students, sophomores to seniors, and the goal isn’t necessarily to prepare them for careers in engineering. Instead, Lee tells the Post, the aim is to “simply get their minds working on physical problem-solving.” If, however, some students do go on to study engineering, he adds, “great . . . certainly the world needs more women engineers.”
Subjects covered in the course include artificial limbs, bridge disasters and robotics. Betty Shanahan, executive director of the Society of Women Engineers, calls the course a winner. “The real challenge for reaching out to young women is to get over the stereotype that this isn’t something girls do, and then help them build their confidence.”
Filed under: K-12 Education News
