Pull Don't Push: Why STEM Messaging to Girls Isn't Working and What to Do Instead

by Julie Newman

You need to hear the bad bad news first: the results of STEM outreach to girls haven't improved in twenty years. The good news? This book will tell you why, and how to fix it. Currently, dated narratives push girls away in fear, and blind spots result in missed opportunities to pull them in. While efforts to increase diversity in science and mathematics have succeeded, outreach has largely ignored engineering-where there is still only one woman for every five men. This is especially troubling because engineering offers vastly more jobs than other STEM fields. Plus, girls are telling us they're eager for the kind of work engineering offers-yet we fail to help them connect the dots.

As a woman enjoying a career in STEM, author Julie Newman is committed to changing this. With extensive research and actionable steps, Pull Don't Push clarifies the challenges facing STEM outreach and will help you create a new framework for your efforts. Following the guidelines in this book could literally put a million women into STEM jobs within the next decade. Learn how to stop pushing girls away and instead pull them toward unexplored paths to fulfillment.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

Published May 19, 2023

About the author

Julie is an engineer! Her passion and reverence for her work fuel her drive to shed light on the field’s many exciting opportunities for girls and young women. She is a passionate advocate for women in engineering and cares deeply about the future of the industry. Julie serves as a board member for the Engaging Girls in STEM program with the Los Angeles County Office of Education and has been volunteering in STEM outreach for more than a decade.

Reviews

[Jenna Petrzelka · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are an educator, parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle to girls, I highly recommend reading this book.

The author discusses that women obtaining engineering degrees has plateaued at 13% over the past 20 years, yet engineering jobs far exceed other STEM professions and is one area that continues to see job growth in America. The income potential for engineers far exceeds that of other STEM professions as well as general pofessions. And lastly, engineering is one of the few degrees that has immediate income potential without obtaining higher levels of education.

So why have more girls not pursued this as a career path? Honestly, most people don’t really understand engineering and can’t really explain engineering as a whole, much less the specific disciplines within engineering.

I felt like the author did an excellent job making a compelling argument for how to recruit girls into engineering disciplines with tangible actions to implement.

My 1 critique was of the book was regarding the Work Life Balance chapter. The author talks about her experience with 9/80 (work 9 hour days for 9 days and get every other Friday off) as a benefit in engineering. This is true for a very specific industry, large aerospace (maybe for engineers in government roles). This is not common across most engineering disciplines. Every company does have a different work life balance culture, but 9/80 is not a common benefit in my experience for the whole of engineering. Of the 6 companies I’ve worked for, I’ve only had 2 offer this benefit and they were both large aerospace. The other 4 companies were commercial.

Overall, an excellent book to read. It’s a quick read and I highly recommend picking up a copy.

[*|FNAME|* · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really useful for everyone wanting to motivate girls to pursue a more technical career path. A refresher on what girls want and need to hear instead of wat message is usually send out (you need to fight for your place in STEM, you need to be great at math). There are really nice career paths waiting for them, with well paid jobs that are challenging, creative, require teamwork and where your work makes a real difference.
Only point of critique: the author says to go light on promoting software engineering, something I do not agree with as a totally unbiased software engineer.
Share this with colleagues, teachers or everyone that knows a girl. Particularly people who want to organise or participate in events for STEM promotion will find practical pointers at the end!

[Regina Angulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW de libro!! Muy útil si quieres incentivar e impulsar a mujeres a estudiar más carreras STEM especialmente de ingeniería! Resources súper útiles al final de cómo hacer outreaches efectivos y con impacto

[SamIAm · Rating 3 out of 5]

a convincing and interesting read. helpful for anyone interested in outreach or recruiting girls for engineering careers