To engage girls in the study of science and technology, educators need to convey the right message about the roles these fields play in society and the skills they require--and they also need to provide more hands-on activities that have some social value.

These were the main lessons imparted during a Sept. 21 webcast hosted by the National Science Foundation's Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program. Concerned about the disparity between the number of men and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, ITEST convened the webcast as a way to share ideas for how to spark--and retain--girls' interest in these fields.

The webcast included a panel of speakers from the ITEST community, the private sector, and research and policy communities.

"We really need women in the IT [information technology] arena, because we need to have diversity of thought, generate new ideas, and create a workforce that mirrors the world we're a part of," said Carroll McGillin, the national initiatives manager for Cisco Systems' Networking Academies program. Cisco Systems and the Cisco Learning Institute have developed the Gender Initiative Project, which explores ways to increase women's access to IT training and careers.

To attract young girls and women to IT fields, McGillin said, educators and employers need to tell them there is a bright future in IT--and that, while technical capabilities are important, prospective IT employees also should have a flexible and collaborative nature, as well as the ability to think critically and learn quickly.

"We want girls to see how technology can help the world, and that it's an engaging environment," McGillen added, putting forth a notion that was echoed throughout the webcast: that girls tend to be drawn toward the social implications of technology use, whereas boys are more drawn to the nuts and bolts of technology.

That theme was later taken up by Deborah Muscella, principal investigator for the Technology at the Crossroads project, an initiative at Simmons College that engages middle school youth (with a particular emphasis on girls) in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) technology, global positioning systems (GPS) technology, and hypertext markup langauge (HTML) programming for use in conducting environmental research in Boston.

"Girls have reservations about the computer culture, and they're concerned about the passivity of their interactions with computers," Muscella said. "Girls think that technology isn't taught in the context of real-world problem solving and that technology is devoid of an understandable human context."

Customizing activities around community resources and focusing on what girls want to learn and experience are key steps in attracting girls and women to STEM careers, said Marcia Kropf, the chief operating officer of Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring girls to be "strong, smart, and bold."