{"id":4239,"date":"2025-09-21T16:22:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T14:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/?p=4239"},"modified":"2025-09-21T15:45:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T13:45:56","slug":"parents-how-to-give-your-daughters-confidence-in-stem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/2025\/09\/21\/parents-comment-donner-confiance-a-vos-filles-en-stem\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents: how can you give your daughters confidence in STEM?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Worldwide, the gender gap in STEM remains significant. Globally, only 35% of STEM graduates are women<\/strong>. In Europe, only 18% of female students choose engineering and computer science<\/strong>. In Africa, the situation varies from country to country, but some figures show that progress is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key figures for Africa<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • In African universities, about 47% of graduates in STEM fields<\/strong> (at undergraduate and postgraduate levels) are women.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • In Sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than 30% of higher education graduates<\/strong> in STEM are women.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • In 9 Southern African countries (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe), a recent study highlights a \u201cdeficit of female presence in STEM in higher education,\u201d despite overall enrollment growth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The number of out-of-school upper secondary school girls in Sub-Saharan Africa exceeds 19.3 million<\/strong>. For those who reach this level, access to technical and STEM fields remains limited.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Why do parents matter so much?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    The home acts either as a springboard or a barrier, depending on what happens there. Parental support has been identified as a key factor in building self-confidence, perseverance, and success in scientific subjects. In many African studies, girls encouraged by their parents to take an interest in science show a greater tendency to choose STEM fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Encouraging curiosity early: yes, but how?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Parents can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • provide educational games (puzzles, science kits, simple coding),<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • buy or borrow children\u2019s books illustrated with women scientists,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • visit science museums, festivals, or STEM workshops with their daughter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      These small actions are often mentioned in the testimonies of African teenage girls who feel more confident in STEM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Valuing effort over outcome<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      When the focus is on grades, competition, or fear of failure, many girls hesitate to continue. In Africa, students report that stereotypes (\u201cmath is not for girls\u201d) weigh heavily. When a parent says, \u201cyou tried well\u201d or \u201cyou understand this point now,\u201d confidence is built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Show inspiring role models<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      Seeing a local woman engineer, scientist, or technologist has a powerful effect. Mentorship programs, conferences, internships, or even documentaries can change perceptions. In Africa, initiatives like Girlsday237 e.V. are already showing encouraging results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Inform about what STEM really is<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      Girls and their parents are not always aware of all STEM fields or their career opportunities. It is useful to talk about the realities: salaries, available jobs, types of work, and social contributions (health, technology, environment). In Africa, many STEM professions are directly connected to local needs (water, agriculture, energy), which makes these choices highly relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Be careful not to push too hard<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      Excessive pressure (to succeed, or to choose STEM \u201cfor prestige\u201d) can have the opposite effect: anxiety, loss of motivation, or dropping out. Supportive encouragement, listening to the child\u2019s personal pace, and respecting their interests are essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Building confidence day by day<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      Every word counts. Using phrases that reinforce (\u201cI believe in you,\u201d \u201ctry again\u201d) helps build self-esteem\u2014especially in contexts where girls often feel judged or limited. Lasting parental support makes a real difference, according to African studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Dans le monde entier, l\u2019\u00e9cart de genre dans les STEM reste marqu\u00e9. Globalement, seulement 35 % des dipl\u00f4m\u00e9s STEM sont des femmes. En Europe, seules 18 % des \u00e9tudiantes choisissent l\u2019ing\u00e9nierie et l\u2019informatique. En Afrique, la situation varie d\u2019un pays \u00e0 l\u2019autre, mais quelques chiffres montrent que des progr\u00e8s sont possibles. Quelques chiffres cl\u00e9s en […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[16,15,17],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4239"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4252,"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4239\/revisions\/4252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlsday237.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}