Increase Participation of Women in STEM

They say we feel like doing something even more eagerly when told not to. Smoking. Drinking. Drugs. It’s time to add another thing to the list.

Both are victims and both are perpetrators in the sense that women should go ahead with their choices irrespective of the people like James Damore and men who have come to believe in the stereotypes. They thrive because of us. No one to blame in particular. 

The campaign is a call to action to both men and women to stop giving in to the roles that stereotypes impose on them, i.e. of opting for career options in non-STEM fields.

Thus,

It’s time to
#EndTheRolePlay

PHASE I

Initiating the Conversation
Via Twitter polls, we will ask people questions about men & women and conclude the results with the fact that gender roles are enforced on a daily basis by us as a society. Next, via a series of short videos we will talk about how it’s okay for a Sanjeev Kapoor to be a chef but when it’s a woman pursuing a career in STEM it ends up being an endless (if not futile) battle for her.

PHASE II

Next, we will throw spotlight on successful women in STEM.  

< >People are okay with watching women scaling new heights in their careers but only in books or movies. Not in reality. Thus, we will rope in women who played roles in STEM fields. We will get them to change their profile picture & cover photo on Twitter to the role they played and talk about how it’s time to let women be empowered in reality and not just in films.  Next, we banish stereotypes at the very root of language. The definition of ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘superwoman’ according to Oxford Dictionary are very disturbing, to say the least. Please see the images below.

This makes one come up with three questions:

< >How is a man being associated with bravery, why not women? How is a superwoman necessarily an expert at household chores? Why is the description of a woman being reduced to a biological one? 

So, we get people sign a petition for Oxford Dictionary to alter these ‘definitions’ on Twitter by roping in eminent personalities in STEM to spread the word.

< >Launch a video on Twitter showing different women in different professions and the roar of claps increases and there’s a beaming smile on her face when they show her in non-STEM professions and the claps are barely audible and her smile will forced when they show her dressed in STEM fields. The closing frame ends saying that we need to collectively #EndTheRolePlay if we want more women to join STEM.We get women scientists & engineers to perform science experiments live, do coding at places like schools, at a fashion show - like a flash mob of sorts. The statement the act will make is that yes, women are good at teaching, at being a model and so on – but they are equally skilled and competent at flourishing in STEM. Launch Listicles titled ‘10 Hacks For Women in STEM Fields To Climb the Career Ladder’ (The purpose being creating awareness as well as shocking them) It will have pointers like -
a. Agreeing to everything her boss says  Not negotiating her salary Letting her senior take credit for her idea.The last point will conclude on the note that if women continue to give in and men like James Damore continue to exercise dominance & bias the way they do, one will be unable to deal with this problem collectively.

< >Targeted to women on Twitter – A tweet from the Women in STEM handle. FAKE QUIZ at Malls: We reach out to parents who malls, with a setup, claiming that it has now been scientifically proven that the shape of your hands can tell you what profession suits your daughter the best. The quiz will be replicated on LinkedIn (targeted to women, because they are demotivated too), on Naukri.com, and in schools. The idea being – no one can tell her what she is good at, apart from her.   For two days on LinkedIn, we make the faces and names of employees in STEM fields disappear – and the same will be used to make the point that one’s skill, not one’s gender, decides one’s capability, irrespective of the field.