Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Can Barbie's spiked heel help crack engineering's glass ceiling?
Mattel, Inc.
"Slide rule in your pocket? Or are you just happy to see me?"
Barbie has a new career as a computer engineer, and technical women are cheering the development as another way to help attract girls to careers in science, high-tech, biotech and the other occupations of the future.
Backers include the likes of IEEE Fellow Dr. Karen Panetta, director of the NerdGirls program that aims to break down the negative sterotypes of women engineers and help young female students translate their interest into degrees.
Leah Jamieson, a past president of IEEE and Dean of the College of Engineering at Purdue University speaks regularly on the importance of encouraging women to pursue careers in technology.
These are important messages for young girls hoping to secure their futures and for our society as it tries to afford the widest opportunity to all.
But will a hunk of plastic help? Will the business end of Barbie's spiked-heel help break the glass ceiling -- stylishly?
Meanwhile, Mattel, Inc., owner of the brand, says computer engineering Barbie comes "dressed in a funky tee with binary code design . . . with Bluetooth headset, laptop bag, and pink laptop." Tattoos and body piercings optional, I suppose,?
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
