This paper reports on an effort to address the issue of inequality in girls' and women's access to science, engineering and technology (SET) education and careers through raising awareness on SET among secondary school girls in South Africa. Girls participated in hands-on high-tech rapid prototyping environment of a fabrication laboratory that was armed at stimulating creativity and innovation as part of a Fab Kids initiative. The Fab Kids intervention is about creating a SET pipeline as part of the Young Engineers and Scientists of Africa Initiative. The methodology was based on a real world situation and a hands-on approach. In the process, participants acquired a number of skills including computer-aided design, research skills, communication skills, teamwork skills, technical drawing skills, writing skills and problem-solving skills. Exposure to technology enhanced the girls' confidence in being able to handle technology-related tasks.
Reference:
Dlodlo, N and Beyers, RN. 2009. Experiences of South African high school girls in a fab lab environment. Proceedings of world academy of science, engineering and technology (WASET), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 2009. pp 1-15
Dlodlo, N., & Beyers, R. (2009). Experiences of South African high school girls in a fab lab environment. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3542
Dlodlo, N, and RN Beyers. "Experiences of South African high school girls in a fab lab environment." (2009): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3542
Dlodlo N, Beyers R, Experiences of South African high school girls in a fab lab environment; 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3542 .