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Why so few women in tech? Seven challenges and potential solutions.

Here is a look at some of the roadblocks women face in technology fields, and the organizations that are fighting to overcome these issues.

3. Young girls are taught from a young age that engineering isn’t girly or meant for them. One solution: GoldieBlox

Courtesy of GoldieBlox
In "Goldie Blox and the Dunk Tank," Goldie, her dog Nacho, and her friends encounter situations they must solve by building simple machines. The GoldieBlox kits are aimed at young girls, teaching early engineering concepts. The GoldieBlox brand first got its start through a Kickstarter.com campaign.

There’s a lot of talk about “disruption” in the tech world. Most start-ups hope their app or software will disrupt an industry and create a new direction for the tech world all together. But GoldieBlox has a different aim. Its tagline is: “Disrupting the pink aisle.” 

“Construction toys develop an early interest in these subjects, but for over a hundred years, they've been considered 'boys' toys,” says the company on its website. “By designing a construction toy from the female perspective, we aim to disrupt the pink aisle and inspire the future generation of female engineers.”

GoldieBlox is a toy company that creates engineering products aimed at young girls in hopes of closing the gender disparity in engineering worldwide. Its website points out that only 13 percent of engineers worldwide are women, and it hopes that by piquing girls’ interest at a younger age, they can make progress in changing those numbers.

Their main line of products is a storybook and construction set that has girls follow along and solve the story’s problems through building real-world solutions. For example, in “Goldie Blox and the Dunk Tank,” girls build a dunk tank (and learn about hinges and levers) in order to help Goldie wash her dog.

“We believe there are a million girls out there who are engineers,” the site says. “They just might not know it yet.”

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

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