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Madeline and Emily are two trailblazing fifteen and seventeen-year old’s, respectively, who have been involved in Guiding since the age of five. They’re gearing up to head off to Silicon Valley for a full-on eight days, exploring Stanford University, The Harcker School and other awesome places. They’ll have the chance to engage with leaders in science and technology, connect with mentors, peers and resources to help them in their further studies and careers.
Guiding has become a way of life for Emily and she says the experiences she has had at GirlGuiding, whether it was protecting her camp from invading ducks or encouraging other girls to face their fears, have allowed her to express herself while creating memories and long-lasting friendships. Emily believes that “we need more girls in STEM because we all have different ways of thinking and we all have different interests, but some are deterred by the idea of “it’s a man’s job”. Her best advice for other girls is to “forget that and go for it, and if that means being the only girl in that profession, so be it”.
Madeline told us that GirlGuiding has become a strong network for her, “Guiding is my way of making good in this world. Through community action, advocacy and Guiding in my community, I can make such a difference. It is my chance to make a positive impact on the next generation.” As part of being an advocate for change, Madeline had the opportunity to meet the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on their New Zealand tour last year. Madeline is also a champion for gender equality and according to her, “we need to encourage women to apply for more positions, not to fill quota’s or to make the demographic stats look good, but purely to make their voices heard and share their point of view.”
We know how important it is to encourage girls into STEM. Only 12 % of engineers are women! And in the words of Prime Minister Jacinda Arden “We can do better”. So, let’s do this!