Using Play to Spark Girls' Interest and Confidence in STEM

by Amanda Sullivan, Ph.D | View Bio

Amanda Sullivan, Ph.D

Dr. Amanda Sullivan is a researcher, educator, and author who explores strategies for breaking gender stereotypes and engaging girls in STEM/STEAM from an early age. She is currently the Senior Program Developer at the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP), a nonprofit organization focused on gender equity in STEM.

Amanda holds a Masters and Ph.D. in Child Development from Tufts University where she worked with the Developmental Technologies Research Group. She is the co-creator of the ScratchJr Coding Cards: Creative Coding Activities for Children Ages 5-7, published by No Starch Press, and author of the book Breaking the STEM Stereotype: Reaching Girls in Early Childhood, published by Rowman & Littlefield. Her work has been featured in GeekWire, The Boston Globe, WIRED magazine, the New York Times, and more.

At the heart of it all, Amanda’s greatest joy is playing and learning alongside young children to spark creativity, inspire confidence, and just plain have fun! She has over a decade of experience teaching early childhood and elementary school STEAM courses such as robotics, drama, film production, and more. She currently has her hands full as the mother of two energetic young children. Connect with Amanda on Twitter @AASully, on Instagram @PlayfulSTEAM, and on LinkedIn.

Research has shown that girls’ and boys’ abilities in mathematics and the sciences do not significantly differ, but that they do differ in their interest, confidence, and sense of belonging in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Many studies have found that girls express less confidence and rate their ability in STEM lower than boys, even when achievement levels are similar. These beliefs form early, with recent research showing that stereotypes about STEM emerge as early as age six. Interests in science and technology are largely established by the end of elementary school, making positive early experiences – often encouraged through play – all the more important.

While these beliefs develop early, they have significant long-term impacts. Women remain underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce, with the greatest disparities occurring in engineering and computer sciences. According to the National Girls Collaborative Project’s most recent State of Girls and Women in STEM, women earn only 24% of bachelor’s degrees in engineering and 21% of bachelor’s degrees in computer science. In the STEM workforce, women make up only 16% of engineers and 26% of computer scientists. Latina, Black, and Indigenous women represent less than 10% of the STEM workforce.

These gender inequities are rooted in the multiple factors that result from systemic inequities. In addition to gender, the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and class creates additional, overlapping barriers to STEM. These barriers often discourage girls' identification with STEM, influencing women’s career journeys and long-term participation in STEM.

Educators and caregivers can help girls overcome these barriers by encouraging them to feel comfortable, welcomed, and supported in STEM from an early age. During the early childhood and elementary school years this begins with supporting inclusive STEM play. Here are four simple ways you can foster girls’ interest and confidence in STEM through play:

1. Encourage Hands-On STEM Play: Research has shown that parents more frequently encourage sons to do STEM activities, including using STEM-themed toys, than daughters. Other research has shown that girls are less likely to play with spatial and science-related games and toys than boys. Make sure you are reaching all young children with hands-on opportunities to explore, engineer, experiment, and create to pique their curiosity about STEM and gain confidence and competence in STEM skills. This can include regularly offering open-ended engineering play with building bricks, magnetic tiles, and STEM building sets (check out this NGCP resource for ideas on choosing STEM toys to inspire girls!). Supporting this type of STEM play can also include encouragement of tinkering with freely available recycled materials like cardboard, bottle caps, discarded paper, and more.


2. Make STEM Personally and Culturally Relevant: When creating opportunities for children to play and explore STEM, think about offering playful learning projects that encourage STEM exploration from a culturally responsive perspective. Connect STEM to girls’ individual experiences, interests, culture, and knowledge. This means encouraging them to explore, experiment, and make discoveries about STEM content that has real-world relevance to them. Learn more about culturally relevant science teaching here.


3. Make STEM Collaborative and Social: A persistent stereotype about STEM is that it is isolating, and that STEM people are overly serious and competitive. Help to break this stereotype by showing STEM as collaborative, social, and FUN! Offer young children many opportunities to play and explore with STEM tools, materials, and toys together. Invite children to collaborate on projects and experiments and create a learning culture that values teamwork and peer support. One strategy for doing this is implementing an “Ask 3 Friends” policy where children are encouraged to ask 3 peers for help before asking a teacher/grownup when working on STEM projects. This gives children a sense of autonomy in solving their problems, sparks authentic peer-to-peer collaboration, and provides children with a new way to demonstrate confidence and competence in their STEM skills and knowledge.


4. Introduce Diverse STEM Role Models: Exposing children to diverse STEM role models can help break stereotypes about who can and should pursue STEM. Role models can play a powerful role in inspiring children and youth to envision themselves in STEM careers. There are lots of ways you can incorporate role models into your playful learning programs. For example, you can bring in a local STEM professional, a high school student on their school’s robotics team, or a college student majoring in engineering to talk to children and facilitate a hands-on activity or open-ended STEM play with materials related to their job. If an in-person event is not feasible, you can make an effort to utilize books and media that showcase diverse STEM professionals. There are also online resources like the IF/THEN® Collection and the SciGirls Role Model Profiles which host free digital libraries with photos, videos, activities, and other assets featuring diverse women STEM innovators. Use these resources to spark children’s STEM interests and curiosities while also helping them see themselves reflected in STEM.

• 6 Ways to Combat STEM Stereotypes Through Play
• 5 Ways to Counter STEM Stereotypes in Children and Youth
• Choosing Toys to Break STEM Stereotypes
• NGCP’s State of Girls and Women in STEM (2024)

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