Design Font/overall appearance-does your publication look friendly? Overall appearance - does it confirm or challenge stereotypes of the subject? Students will understand that a publication that is predominately pink is aimed at girls, predominately blue/grey is aimed at boys How computer literate are your audience? Not all students have access to IT, not all adults are proficient Are the colours or font appropriate for those with visual impairment Are the colours or font appropriate for those with dyslexia? Go through your publication, note what colours are used and count how often. Use more gender-neutral colours such a orange/bright green/purple To ensure girls feel welcome in an activity they may already feel is aimed at boys, overtly use colours that are girl-identified Use bright colours, variation of font Include case studies that feature non-traditional role-models If you find a predominance of colours that you cannot change, i.e. company logo, sky, sea. Provide balance by ensuring you have female-identified colours where you can, i.e. borders, in-fill The Brightside Trust-e-mentoring The web design and content is designed to appeal to young people by including: lots of pictures and tasters short and snappy text brighter colours Also, when working with the students it became apparent that, contrary to expectations, not all the students were IT literate, particularly those from less advantaged backgrounds who did not have access to a computer at home. To cater for this Brightside clean and simple. The London South Bank University: The Engineering Islam Flyer Devised to specifically target the most under represented group in engineering: girls from a Pakistani and Bangladeshi community. The front image is a very visually pleasing example of Islamic engineering and the design colours chosen so girls will appreciate, it is aimed at them. The back cover is beautiful, emphasising the artistic side of engineering, and culturally appropriate. The poster can be seen on the welcome page of this site.
Events Do you have good numbers of girls and boys? Do the students reflect the diversity of the institution? Are speakers diverse? Do they challenge or confirm stereotypes of the subject? Are the girls getting an equal opportunity for hands-on activity Are the facilitators aware of equality and diversity issues? Are you actively targeting students who are statistically less likely to progress in the subject? Ask schools to send equal numbers of girls and boys. Ask the school to ensure the participants reflect the ethnic make up of the school. Monitor and evaluate the above. Take action as necessary to ensure equality of participation Provide speakers that challenge stereotypes of who succeeds in your subject. Instigate girl-only groups at mixed events, particularly if you anticipate girls being in a minority. Girl-only events Provide a pre-event equality and diversity training for all facilitators. If necessary, implement structure which ensures all participants equally access activities The London Engineering Project ‘For example, one teacher said, but I allocate my 20 residential places on a first come first served basis. It was suggested that he put up 2 sheets, first come, first served 10 places for girls; first come first served 10 places for boys. This school used to send 17 boys and 3 girls. It now sends 10 girls, 10 boys. Stimulating Physics Project Instigated single –sex physics lessons for year 9, with positive feedback from both girls and boys Young Engineers. Monitoring indicated that participation of girls in the secondary school clubs had fallen to 36%. The fieldworkers reviewed all their approaches, sent female role models and ambassadors to give presentations to the schools, visited the clubs and arranged a gender awareness training for all teachers running the clubs. WISE run discovery workshops for girls, teachers and parents to explore opportunities in engineering and construction for young women between 15 and 22.
Content of activities Is there a context to the activity which provides a social application for the subject? It is important for girls to understand why they are doing something and how it contributes to society. Ensure the scenario has a positive message Is the activity appealing to both genders and students from different ethnic backgrounds? Could it be viewed as catering traditionally for boys? (E.g. cars, rockets, weapons, trains etc...) If so, what have you done to ensure it equally appeals to girls? What have you done to ensure interest from students from different backgrounds? Or do you need to devise/find a new activity? Can you Incorporate design/decoration into activity Can the students relate to the activity? Show the social context Introduce a cultural focus i.e. Provide local references. Set a scenario that displays your subject in a positive light Introducing ethically dimension to the subject Introducing environmental application of the subject. Instead of ‘add a light to an existing bell circuit’ present them with the challenge ‘how would you adapt the bell circuit in a deaf person’s home to alert them that someone was at the door?’ Produce an alarm that reminds the students of a specific date or time in the religious calendar London South Bank University Ran a girls' only engineering weeks summer school, focusing on robotics, included discussion on prosthetics in top level sport. University of Sussex ran a Drug Discovery week as part of their Headstart programme focusing on Alzheimers disease. Project Navy Wise Young women undertook a week’s residential work experience with the Royal Navy. Activities were designed and to be inclusive and hands –on: removing and replacing a propeller, 1 day survival course in the New Forest, releasing and repacking a parachute. Team building activities included to promote friendships and teamwork. A competition to redesign an airport lounge may not be appropriate for children who have not had the opportunity to travel abroad.