SHE CAN'T BE WHAT SHE CAN'T SEE

This website is part of my (THE CREATOR) Gold Award project. The Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn. Originally known as the "Golden Eaglet of Merit," it is the equivalent of BSA's Eagle Scout, although many consider the Gold Award process to be even more rigorous. Approximately only 5% of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn it. In order to complete a Gold Award project, a girl takes on an issue she is passionate about, researches it, reaches out to her community to build and lead a team of volunteers, and plans and executes her project to address the issue. Among other requirements, she must additionally put in at least 80 hours of work, measure her project's impact, and make sure her project is non-profit as well as sustainable. For more information regarding this award, go to https://www.girlscouts.org/en/our-program/highest-awards/gold-award.html.

​

Choosing my Gold Award project was difficult, but choosing a career is one of the most important decisions a person will make in their life. The issues this project addresses are the lack of female representation in certain careers as well as the lack of access some students have to a well rounded Career Day. When asked to  picture a doctor, president, or scientist, most people visualize a male, so girls may not picture themselves in certain careers. As Sally Ride stated, "YOUNG GIRLS NEED TO SEE ROLE MODELS IN WHATEVER CAREERS THEY MAY CHOOSE, JUST SO THEY CAN PICTURE THEMSELVES DOING THOSE JOBS SOMEDAY. YOU CAN'T BE WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE." Some of the careers on this site are only 1-2% female such has helicopter pilot and firefighter. Despite a recent push to interest girls in STEM careers, only around 40% of scientists and engineers today are female. And even with recent increases of females in male-dominated careers, unfortunately, our old stereotypes persist.

​

Several events inspired me to create this project. As a young kid, a Girl Scout activity caused me to become aware of my own subconscious stereotypes about genders in careers. We were asked to draw pictures of people in various careers. Everyone participating drew males in certain careers, such as president, pilot, scientist, because for most of us, that's all we had seen represented. It revealed perceptions we weren't even aware we had. Later, as an eighth grader, I had the opportunity to personally interview the Historian of Yellowstone National Park for a National History Day documentary I was creating. She was new to the position and also talked to me about her experience as a female working in the National Park Service, an institution traditionally run by men. I felt both privileged and inspired to hear her story and wanted to share it with others. The idea of bringing Career-Day type interviews to others sounded like something I had the power to do! Lastly, my mom was once a teacher working in an under served school, and while I was brainstorming this project idea with her, she mentioned that inner city schools like hers had very few parent volunteers with professional careers, so it was hard for them to plan a well-rounded Career Day for students. I searched online to see if any Virtual Career Day sites existed, and I couldn't find any (2019)! This let me know there was a need for my project, and it could have a big impact. I decided I would strive to feature as many people of color as possible in the interviews because just as gender representation is important, so is racial and cultural representation..

​

The process of building this project began in June 2019, and it is still a work in progress. I started by researching the issues: lack of representation for women in certain careers and stereotypes they face in traditionally male-dominated careers (RESOURCES). I then began interviewing any women I knew or met in male-dominated careers. However, there were still careers that were not yet represented in my project. So, I began to reach out to the community to recruit more volunteers to participate as interviewees. I came up with an initial list of questions, and it grew as I continued to interview people. Once the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, I continued interviewing people either virtually, or, as things started to get better I interviewed them while socially distanced with a mask. To learn how to build the website, I met with my expert advisor, a professional web designer, for advice and used Wix to create and personalize a place where students could view these interviews and learn more about these careers. Lastly, I reached out to schools and organizations and asked them to partner with me and share the site. I also included a survey to measure the impact of the project.

​

This project was originally intended to help students in under served school districts, kids who are home schooled or participate in virtual school, and any student who may not have access to a well-rounded Career Day event that features females in a variety of careers (and still is intended to do so). However, it has become even more relevant today because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting rise in virtual learning, and restrictions schools may face this year bringing visitors to campus. In response to that need, I decided to double my efforts and push to publish the site sooner than I had planned. I hope I have created a website where young girls can be inspired to pursue their dreams with confidence in whatever career they choose, where young boys will have a chance to see successful, professional women representing a variety of careers, before they develop stereotypes and carry them into the workplace, and where students of both genders can be educated about these amazing career possibilities. 

​

Thank you to my troop leaders, Gold Award advisor, expert advisor, and numerous other kind and amazing volunteers. Thank YOU for visiting the site! Please make sure you fill out the survey below to help this site grow and give your feedback.

​

- Seraphina