2023-12-17 05:39:40
“We must change the mind, the system and society”this is the message that Justine Sass, head of Gender and Education at UNESCO, launched last December 14 at the international summit organized by the Ministry of Education, the European Union and the OECD in Madrid to debate about the future of girls in STEM. This acronym refers to professions related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, historically represented mostly by men.
Overcoming the barriers of gender roles in these fields is still a goal to be achieved that involves the whole of society. Parents, teachers, leaders, companies… everyone must join forces in order to overcome the persistence of stereotypes and their influence on the loss of female talent. Perpetuating these hackneyed gender roles leads to discrimination.
To achieve effective change you have to start from the roots; Education is the engine that will spin the roulette wheel of change. Research carried out by universities such as Princeton,
New York and Illinois have shown that between the ages of 5 and 7, girls They begin to develop limiting beliefs about themselves, which leads them to stop dreaming about certain professions because they perceive them as “more masculine.” This phenomenon is known as Dream Gap.
[Nuria Paz, jefa del Área de Flota de Salvamento Marítimo: “Cuando entré en la escuela, no había ni baños femeninos”]
Isabel Ferrer, at the OECD conference. Courtesy
Precisely to analyze this phenomenon and the importance of education and play in development, Magas has an interesting talk with Isabel Ferrer, Barbie Marketing Director for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) who has been one of the speakers at this summit.
In 2018, the company launched the Barbie Dream Gap Projecta global initiative that aims empower girls by providing them with resources and tools to continue believing in themselves. Not only that, choosing female STEM references for your dolls inspires and motivates them to explore. The data speaks for itself: e62% of young people between 5 and 16 years old think that certain jobs are not for girlswhich highlights the need to address the gender gap.
Isabel, Barbie has been around for more than 60 years. How has society changed in terms of gender roles during this time?
Barbie is a brand that if there is one thing it has achieved is to remain culturally relevant and that is done by listening a lot to society and parents and understanding how they want to show the world to their daughters and sons. We have made changes related to diversity: before there was only one body for the doll, now it has five to six different ones. We teach diversity in an inclusive way and parents appreciate it. We also have models with disabilities, with prostheses, wheelchairs, hearing aids… All these changes enrich the game because children must play with the real world, in a more global way.
It is also interesting to delve into those professions that still seem somewhat forbidden for girls.
We are in an environment in which girls are understanding that they have more possibilities and we must show them through play. Having a scientist or astronaut Barbie opens their minds a lot, makes them see what they can do when they grow up, giving the toy content. We have to break stereotypes and change them.
And yet, Barbie herself has been very stereotyped especially in the past. Blonde, thin, tall…has she surpassed herself?
Absolutely. Today there is not just one Barbie profile, there are many different ones. This is how we are breaking that stereotype. Children want to have diverse dolls and Barbie is the most diverse doll in the world.
Parents and teachers must be educated to overcome the gender gap.
We have studies in Europe that show that some parents have not yet understood the benefit of playing with dolls. Through research with Cardiff University in neuroscience we have been able to prove that when boys and girls play with dolls there is a part of the brain that is activated that is related to social development and empathy. It is scientifically proven and this changes the perception of parents in a very powerful way.
[Así ha sido la evolución de la muñeca Barbie con el paso de los años]
We should then encourage children (men) to play more with dolls, but in the end what we focus on is putting the focus on girls so that they change those roles.
The change must be joint and I can say, because we have verified it, that there are more and more children who play with dolls, which is very beneficial. I think it is something that will continue to evolve and surely there are already many children who ask for Barbies without it being strange. We address boys and girls.
Barbie advocates for diversity. Courtesy
There are many female references missing, because there have been great women who history has made invisible. You as a company work a lot in that regard.
It is essential to have female role models for girls. If you do not see a profession reflected as a woman, it is difficult for you to dream of performing it one day. For many years we have focused on identifying references of different professions that have historically been performed by men. We must close the dream gap, make more girls believe that they can do what they want.
What we do is create a doll that looks like one of them and we create content to spread their message and profile. It’s the line Inspiring Woman, who are women from the past who have had relevant professions such as Catherine Johnson in mathematics, Amelia Earhart, who was the first female pilot, or Frida Khalo in the world of art. They are women who have been almost hidden and it is important that boys and girls know them.
Women continue to be exposed to contradictory measuring sticks and move in swampy terrain where they are asked for empowerment, but also for perfection and modesty. Is there a magic recipe to overcome it?
Educating with resilience and self-confidence.
#Playing #dolls #develops #childrens #empathy