Katharina Buczek
A 2019 survey conducted by non-profit youth organization Junior Achievement USA found that only nine percent of adolescent girls aged thirteen to seventeen are interested in STEM careers.
Moreover, an MIT study suggested that girls do express higher interests in STEM professions at younger ages. But, due to a lack of relatable role models, these aspirations fade as they grow older.
Today, the STEM workforce is only twenty-eight percent women, according to the American Association of University Women.
To battle these representational shortcomings in the STEM field, Mattel has partnered with NASA to show young girls that they should shoot for the stars.
Just this month, Mattel revealed that two dolls were sent to the International Space Station (ISS) on Mission DreamStar– a project designed to inspire young women.
“The project creates videos and educational content that are shared via YouTube, the Barbie Vlog, and social media to an audience of nearly twenty-million viewers,” the NASA website reported.
Not only does the project represent the female gender, but it also highlights BIPOC women in space to “reinforce the message that if you can see it, you can be it.”
In 1965, the first astronaut Barbie doll was introduced to the public. Since then, over forty Barbies have launched and represented numerous STEM careers– like space scientists, astrophysicists, and robotics engineers.
Mattel; pictured above is the new Barbie doll
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