Women have come a long way in the workforce. Now they will lead STEM during the 21st century.

There remains a social stigma, inherited from centuries past, surrounding women in STEM. At Morphbots, we wish to eliminate this outdated stigma. 

History of Women in Workforce

First, let us touch up upon the journey taken by women in the workforce. From being completely limited to the kitchens in the 1700s, we traveled to beginning to work in “feminine” occupations such as the textile industry in the 1800s. See the Lowell Mill Girls during the industrial revolution.* Then we arrived at the temporary mass entrance of women into the workforce deserted by the department of men during WWII and finally to today’s statistic of 50% of the overall workforce being female. We’ve come a long way; that cannot be denied. However, the journey is not over yet. 

Women in STEM Dilemma

Today, there is still a looming shadow darkening the workforce. Similarly to how society barred women from “masculine” jobs such as manager or office worker or bank accountant in the 1900s, we see overwhelming evidence of a severe lack of women in jobs related to STEM today. 28%. Women only make up a meager 28% of the STEM workforce. Why?

Reason

To explain, the issue stems from far beyond the workforce. Beginning at early childhood, society discourages girls from math and science fields. The belief that math and robotics are “yucky” and only for boys is common among today’s society. To prevent this mindset and boost the confidence of girls, Morphbots creates an opportunity for girls to learn about STEM. 

How Morphbots helps Women in STEM

Morphbots is an edTech company that creates a robotics education curriculum for middle and high schoolers. We will bring our curriculum and revolutionary self-assembling robotics kit to classrooms around the country. Hence, our program will promote inclusiveness in STEM and provide an early STEM education to children and fight against the early discouragement girls face against STEM. Therefore, our program will encourage girls to foster an understanding and interest in STEM and thus recruit women into STEM majors and later into the STEM workforce. 

To emphasize, our fundamental goal is to offer a platform where underserved populations can have the opportunity to get an advanced technological education with minimal resources. 

By Erica Wang

*Lowell Mill Girls information- https://www.nps.gov/lowe/learn/historyculture/the-mill-girls-of-lowell.htm