Women are grossly under-represented in STEM fields across Sub-Saharan Africa. One way of encouraging girls to enter the STEM fields is to increase interest among girls from an early age. It’s important that girls in Africa see role models, and that women in STEM are visible in the media. The importance of representation cannot be underestimated. Play Africa is leveraging technology to address this.
Play Africa creates resources for parents to introduce children to South African STEM role models
Play Africa is an interactive children’s museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. Their aim is to empower children to think critically and identify innovative solutions for South Africa. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they expanded their reach across southern Africa, leveraging technology and design thinking. One of the programmes they introduced is the Women in STEM video series.
The Women in STEM series contains free video resources for parents to introduce children to South African STEM role models. The YouTube videos are child-friendly interviews with various scientists, including a mathematician, environmental chemistry researcher, data visualisation specialist, and educators.
The videos ask the scientists how they became interested in their fields, what they like about what they do, and whether they can show the audience how to do STEM at home.
You can watch the videos on Play Africa’s Women in STEM site, or on their Women in STEM YouTube playlist.
