S.T.E.M.
CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON GIRLS
A SERIES OF RESEARCH AND INFORMATIONAL PUBLICATIONS BY LCRG
“Putting the world’s best research to work for girls.”
by Lisa Damour, Ph.D.
ENGAGING GIRLS IN STEM: TINKERING Research on the gap between men and women in STEM fields indicates that boys are more likely than girls to tinker with building materials, mechanical objects and computers. In other words, boys are more likely to see computers and machines as “toys” to be explored while girls are more likely to see computers and machines as “tools” to be put to specific uses. In the words of the American Association of University Women, “There is intellectual importance to getting to understand computers from the “inside out” and developing skills and an intuitive feel for programming. There is intellectual value in tinkering with technology—[however] girls reject a computer culture that they see as primarily focused on playing with machines.”1 When girls tinker, they develop skills that promote success in STEM fields: spatial awareness, mechanical reasoning, invention, exploration and experimentation. They also cultivate intellectual habits that are useful in a variety of academic and creative domains, including critical thinking, risk-taking, systematic questioning, self-monitoring and self-correction, creativity and courage. When teachers incorporate tinkering into their curricula, they provide opportunities for girls to explore new ideas freely; in other words, teachers can use tinkering to help students appreciate the pleasures of inventive intellectual pursuits.