Dinner conversations at the Blakely household had an unusual twist. Each night at the table, Sara Blakely’s father would ask her, “What have you failed at today?” And she would recount her successes and setbacks, learning to move beyond failure. By the time she entered college, Sara Blakely was steeped in failure and experienced at…
In my last post, I began sharing the story of my life as an outlier—a Latina woman who became an engineer in a male-dominated field—to tell you a bit about why I’m so passionate about teaching entrepreneurialism, and confidence, to girls. Thanks to my parents’ support for my being independent and for my curiosity, I…
I’d like to share my story with you so that you can understand my passion for entrepreneurial learning. I am an outlier: a female scientist and technology entrepreneur from the unlikeliest of circumstances. My father was an orphan, living on the streets of Mexico City at the age of 10. Like many American children—like children everywhere,…
Can children be induced to adopt a growth mindset? We encourage children to dream up new ideas, whether gigantic or nano-sized—often intersecting several disciplines. Whether or not children think they are “good” at various subjects, we encourage them to go where their ideas lead them. Who has ever accomplished something startlingly new without believing it…
Your brain can change. It can grow. You can develop new abilities to do things you never thought possible. At VentureLab, we begin each entrepreneurial course with these types of thoughts. We encourage children to work through their fear of failure and dispel notions of their own “weaknesses,” pessimistic preconceptions, and subconscious thought patterns that can hold…
In my last few posts, I’ve looked at how important it is to recognize that boys and girls learn differently, and that in order to help them learn equally well, and to equip girls for the future despite society’s biases, parents and teachers must help girls become more confident at an early age. At the same…
In my last post, I explored how some researchers are trying to present evidence of gender differences to teachers and parents that can help them understand how to best help them learn better. Boys and girls are different. They learn differently, and they communicate differently. But each is equally capable of achievement in STEAM fields. It’s…
At one time, even hinting at the existence of any innate differences between girls and boys could make one a target of chauvinism. It was safer for many people not to question the then-conventional wisdom: that the best way to raise children was “gender neutral,” to treat girls and boys exactly the same. If we…
A girl who tries hard but lacks confidence can fade away. We don’t want her to fade, but to shine. We need to help her, early on, to overcome gender bias. To empty the “buckets of bias” that she encounters. Jason Seats is an engineer, computer scientist, entrepreneur, venture capital advisor, and father. He categorizes…
Women often face the challenge of being overlooked or interrupted in conversations, a reality combated by phrases such as “Stop interrupting me,” and “No explanation needed”. This issue is particularly prevalent in male-dominated fields like science and engineering. However, many women, such as Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College, have overcome these hurdles to achieve great success. It’s essential to instill confidence in girls and reassure them that they can flourish despite inherent gender biases.
Things are changing, if slowly, for women, in science and technology. Women make up just 4% of partners at venture capital firms, and about 20% of angel investors, both vital sources for fast-track technology companies. Only 3% of technology CEOs are women, and just 15% of technology firms have at least one woman founder. But…
It’s not news that gender bias persists at U.S. universities, especially in the sciences. What’s surprising is how long-lasting and pervasive this bias is. Even today, gender biases continue to color how female academics are viewed professionally. Science professors at U.S. universities widely regarded women undergraduates as less competent than men with the same skills…
The choices girls make in their academic lives will have profound effects on their careers. This is true of everyone, of course, but for girls with a talent for the sciences and who become disenchanted with the field because they see little opportunity for them, their academic years can, in a way, make or break…
Girls begin their education with the same potential as boys, but by the end of high school, their excitement and potential in sciences has been stifled. Why is that? Part of it is that girls can absorb unconscious stereotypes that tell them what paths they should follow. They are exposed to subliminal messages that steer…
While opportunities in technology have exploded since 2000, fewer women today are actually pursuing computer science degrees than in the 1970s and 1980s, when women made up one quarter of all computer science students in the nation’s colleges and universities. A generation ago, young women were pursuing computer science in earnest. Today women make up…
If anyone doubts that young women face discouragement because of their gender, consider Barbara Barres, who was a prominent female neurobiologist at Stanford University. Early in her studies as a student at MIT, Barres had solved a tough math problem. Rather than praise her for her work, her professor remarked, “Your boyfriend must have solved…
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