Greenlight For Girls

On May 22nd, 2019 I participated in an all-girls STEM workshop at the Vodaphone office in Luxembourg. From there, I met so many new amazing people, got great opportunities, and became part of an inspiring group of likeminded people, the international ambassadors of Greenlight for girls.

Greenlight for girls is an international organization and non-profit company dedicated to inspiring girls of all ages and backgrounds to pursue STEM subjects by introducing them to the world of science in a fun and interesting way. I have had the pleasure to attend broadcasts, share ideas with other ambassadors, and most importantly, share my love for STEM with others!

Over the past week, I have been collecting different answers from my fellow ambassadors and about their role at g4g. Hopefully, it gives you a better outlook of what it means to be an ambassador and part of the team in general. It will also give you an idea of what g4g does, and who they work with.

The Questionnaire

Firstly, I asked my ambassadors "What does being a g4g ambassador mean to you?"

• "Being spreading the words and message for who needs it and for whom doesn't have the opportunity of living this kind of experience making them believe anything is possible."

• "For me, it means to share the love for science that I have received throughout my career to younger women and be a mentor for them."

• "Promoting the idea of women in STEM and feminism in general"

To me, being an ambassador means to share our love for science with other girls all around the world, and making sure that it is not only boys, but also girls who feel empowered to join STEM fields of work.

Next, I asked: "When did you discover your love for STEM?"

• "I was in high school"

• "When I was still in school. I had the opportunity to participate in many cool science workshops, G4G being one of them, and fell in love with it."

• "Fairly young I reckon, my parents gave me a science kit for Christmas which I spent hours playing with!"

I discovered my love for STEM when I joined my school's science club and was able to take part in an international competition. From the answers above, it is clear to see that these women were influenced by something that they had done: a mentor, an activity, or maybe a game. All of these women had someone push them to pursue something new and try a new activity. Girls and young women need more exposure to STEM jobs, female role models, and career planning. In fact, only 36% of girls and 44% of young women know a woman in a STEM profession. This infographic captures the problem of the lack of encouraging mentors in STEM quite well:

The next question was: "What are some interesting things you've done because of g4g (In terms of STEM)"

• "Leading g4g workshops through g4g events all around the world"

• "Hosted my own DNA extraction workshop, did neuroscience and cancer research"

• "I actually studied social sciences at university, but g4g inspired me to not lose touch with my interest in STEM and I was the chair of the Maths Club of my university! G4g also inspired me to start a program with that club for after-school Maths activities for kids with neighboring schools."

These women have achieved so many different things, and it's so amazing to see the broad scope of what has been accomplished. It's interesting to note that only 37% of STEM majors are female. We need more females and that stems from the root of the problem: encouragement and social norms. Take this information from Microsoft, 35% of high school girls don't feel supported by their teachers and classmates, but 91% of them describe themselves as creative. This creativity needs to be used in things they want to do, and shouldn't be wasted just because they feel that STEM "isn't for them".

The next question was "How does g4g aim to get more girls into STEM?"

This is a very pivotal question, as it captures and shows what g4g is all about.

• "encouraging them through events where they can make STEM in a fun way."

• "By hosting workshops, posting fun content online, and sharing their message through the ambassadors."

• "By inspiring them with role-models and workshops showing how fun and interesting STEM can be!"

This is exactly the path that must be taken in order to encourage girls to pursue these STEM careers, and is exactly what g4g does!

Next, I asked, "What is the biggest challenge of being an ambassador?"

• "conciliating my daily routine with g4g Ambassador Program activities"

• "It is being able to reach out to all these girls that are disadvantaged. The internet is a great place to share ideas and reach the younger generation. However, it can also be harder sometimes and even in person. Since I am now in college I really have to collaborate with schools to reach younger girls."

• "For me, it's standing my ground in the face of criticism, e.g. "why isn't g4g allowing boys", or being scared to pass for the "annoying" overly feminist friend by bringing up these issues in conversations."

These are all really important topics, as it may be normalized to assume that STEM is a boys subject and that's that. However, it is not. Women should be able to speak about their passions without having a certain stigma of that "annoying feminist girl around it", as it wouldn't be that way for men. Another problem is facing the fact that people think STEM is a boys topic. From a research project at Microsoft, I also found some interesting information about the work of girls in STEM.

The next question was: "What is your favorite part of being an ambassador?"

• "It not only encourages more girls but myself."

• "Just the spirit of the other ambassadors and honestly I am just so honored that I can represent such a great organization like g4g."

• "Feeling like I'm contributing to making a change (and during events, the looks on the girls' faces when you show them a really cool experiment!)"

These are all really amazing and positive answers and even made me appreciate the g4g community more. All these women feel that g4g is a great organization and that it not only empowers women, but also empowers the ambassadors to continue doing what they do, and be proud of it. There is no better satisfaction than achieving something that benefits others, and it is clear that when girls pursue STEM, it really encourages us to keep doing what we do!

Thanks for reading!

- Ishaana