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…
Nick Hahn is what I call a “technology dad.” Being a techie with a lifelong fascination with all things digital, he is ideally positioned to spark his daughter’s interest in computing. Both at work and at home, Nick is on the frontlines confronting gender biases. He shared one of his experiences with me. “When my…
Young women have made amazing strides—in law, business, life sciences, and a number of other fields that are traditionally male domains. But engineering and computer science are a different story. There is still a lower proportion of women majoring in computer science in U.S. colleges and universities than a generation ago. The percentage of young…
When girls (and boys) are exposed to entrepreneurial thinking, a profound change takes place. They learn to solve problems, to think critically and to recognize opportunities. Take the example of a group of 5- and 6-year-olds who participated in a weeklong VentureLab summer camp. Very soon after learning that they could become entrepreneurs, these children…
When I led the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, I noticed how differently men and women responded in class. Even the most accomplished and confident women had a tendency to become timid in a classroom environment, while men seemed to display much more confidence, even if they were less prepared than female students. I realized that this behavior was entrenched at an early age. And I decided to see what I could do to help change this. With these thoughts in mind, in 2013 I started VentureLab, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching entrepreneurial skills to children—with a particular focus on teaching girls.
Often men and women react differently in a learning environment. When I was leading the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, this situation became crystal clear to me. I observed striking differences between male and female students in class. Young women whom I saw strolling around campus fully engaged…
Going into engineering was a natural choice for me. I’d been raised to do anything a boy could do. My Sunday dress was just that. The rest of the week I was free to play in the mud or tinker with broken appliances in the garage. It was a hands-on, bilingual childhood. I thought I…
Science is about discoveries. It is the thrill of every scientist to uncover a new formula or truth that can change the world. Holding onto such a dream makes all of the hard work and years of study worthwhile. Such a dream knows no gender—anyone can be inspired to pursue science and engineering as a…
Investing in your daughter’s entrepreneurial education is a smart strategy for preparing her for future successes. Girls must be engaged through entrepreneurial frameworks to develop a growth mindset—an understanding that their skills and capacities are ever-expanding. Teaching girls entrepreneurial skills empowers them in life, regardless of career choice. Teaching our youth entrepreneurial skills and mindsets can empower the…
Our world needs skilled, innovative workers. Not just any skills—but increasingly specialized as well as wide-ranging ones. According to a World Economic Forum Report, “New Vision for Education: Fostering Social and Emotional Learning Through Technology,” students need to have core skills in science, mathematics and finance, among other essentials. They need to develop critical thinking,…
Discover how VentureLab’s unique ESTEAM framework merges entrepreneurship with STEM and the arts to foster innovation and critical thinking among youth. Our curriculum not only teaches important STEM skills but also applies them in creative, real-world contexts, empowering students to become motivated, team-oriented, and problem-solving innovators. Explore our approach to making STEM concepts relatable and engaging, particularly for girls and younger students, through hands-on projects and entrepreneurial education.
Teaching girls to think like entrepreneurs can be the key to unlocking their potential in STEM fields. At VentureLab, we encourage girls to innovate, problem-solve and take calculated risks, and we’ve seen a profound change in their enthusiasm and confidence as a result. By exposing girls to entrepreneurial concepts at a young age, they become more aware of opportunities around them and learn to think creatively. We’ve even seen 5-year-old students become entrepreneurs by identifying a problem, conducting market research, and ultimately creating a successful product. If we want more women innovators, we need to teach girls to observe and anticipate needs, innovate, and take risks.
I’ve discovered three keys to building our pipeline of women innovators and changemakers. In my last post, I explored the first key: let girls break free of stereotypes. The second is to teach our girls to redefine and embrace failure. Studies show that many girls self-select out of things that are difficult or risky, because…
Through my experience teaching at the university level, and what I myself have discovered in teaching kindergarten through 12th grade, I’ve identified three keys to building our pipeline of female creative leaders and innovators: help break them free from stereotypes, let them embrace failure, and encourage entrepreneurialism. I will outline them over the next few…
Girls are gifted in science and math, but they’re missing from fields that need their talents… “More than ever before, girls are studying and excelling in science and mathematics,” writes Catherine Hill of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), in Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing, a report she co-authored….
At VentureLab, we encourage creative brainstorming and zeroing in on promising ideas. With our curriculum, girls learn to design and create a prototype, even if it is only drawn on paper. They learn to conduct research by asking friends and family their thoughts on the prototype. They follow through with their best solutions—and they think about…
We’re on a mission to create the next generation of diverse innovators and changemakers by making entrepreneurship education accessible to ALL youth.
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