Snap the Gap
Bridging the gender gap in STEM
2019 | Free program for 10-12 year-old girls
Snap the Gap™ is a grant-funded initiative designed to empower, excite, encourage and engage girls in STEM topics, with the aim of closing the gender gap in these fields. The 2019/2020 pilot program uses three proven components to impact the STEM opportunity gap: experiential learning with STEM inventor kits, mentorship, and expanded learning opportunities.
My Role: Program Manager and Experience Design Lead
Responsibilities: Program definition, experience design, content strategy and creation, website design and implementation, program management
Collaborators: The Walt Disney Company (Funder), UC Davis (Participant and mentor recruitment, academic study), Ayah Bdeir (Snap the Gap Founder & littleBits CEO), Chalon Bridges (Chief Operations Officer at DIY.org)
The Challenge
At 5 years old, girls are just as confident as boys. By age 6, girls start seeing themselves as less brilliant. By age 9 the gender gap in STEM interest starts showing up. By age 17, only 11% of girls are interested in STEM. The problems persist through college and into the workforce.
Our Objective: 15,000 11-year-old girls inventing by 2020 and equipped with the courage, confidence, and tools needed to become tomorrow’s STEM leaders.
Program Components
Experiential STEM Toolbox
Each participant receives a littleBits Snap the Gap STEM Inventor Kit, encouraging them to learn through physical play, turn their ideas into inventions, and solve problems they care about.
Expanded Learning
Each participant receives a one-year subscription to DIY.org, an online STEM course platform for kids. On DIY.org, kids can post projects, participate in challenges, and interact with fellow peers.
Mentorship
Participants receive 20 hours of in-person mentorship over the course of the program. Girls who have had mentors are 2.5 times more likely to be confident in their ability to succeed in school and careers.
Insights
Level of Commitment 🕑
The original program had strict time requirements that proved to be a barrier in recruiting girls and mentors.
How might we design the program to be flexible for different groups?
Digital Access 📱
Not all girls have devices they can bring to program sessions to access build instructions on their own.
How might we support girls both onsite and at home?
Mentorship Support 🙋♀️
Volunteer mentors and organizers feel pressure to do a good job and have many questions.
How might we help mentors feel confident?
Snap the Gap Website
A Modular Program
Due to variability in time commitments from different Snap the Gap programs, we designed a series of modular sessions with suggested pathways for different time frames.
The session guide page is a hub for program organizers; this page overviews the Snap the Gap curriculum and links to individual session guides. The session guides are presented as a flexible outline so organizers can tailor their individual programs to meet varying schedules.
In-person Invention Sessions
Each session guide includes an outline of objectives, pre-session prep, inventor inspiration, and build instruction videos. As not all girls were able to bring their own devices to the sessions, the in-person content was designed to be delivered by mentors. Girls were also given “homework” in between sessions to work on individual projects using their subscription to DIY.org.
Helping Mentors Build Confidence
Mentors play a key role in in-person sessions, both as cheerleaders and content deliverers. As this content was new to most, we set out to create a hub for mentors to familiarize themselves with the Snap the Gap inventor tools and methodologies.
Program in Action
Snap the Gap kicked off in April 2019 and runs through December 2020. The University of California, Davis will measure perceptions and attitudes around STEM before and after participating in the pilot program.
Explorations
We looked at a number of different ways for the Snap the Gap program to play out. We explored both digital and in-person mentorship and content delivery models, with the goal of understanding what could have the most significant impact given varying Snap the Gap site needs.
Early explorations of how we might adapt content from existing littleBits products to work with Disney IP.
Wireframe sketches for the Snap the Gap website.
