Shipley Communications LLC Launches Off-Kilta Matilda, Empowering Girls to Love Math
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (PRWEB) November 20, 2017 -- Off-Kilta Matilda is a series of fun and exciting educational resources including books and videos to get kids, especially girls excited and confident about math, science and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects. It is one aspect of a STEM campaign launched by Sarah Shipley of Shipley Communications LLC, who carries a vision to empower girls in the fields of math and science.
Statistics reveal that there is a gender disparity in STEM fields. The gender disparity in science and math is one of the many reasons for gender wage gap among men and women when it comes to employment.
According to the National Girls Collaborative Project, the gender disparities are more prominent in STEM careers- in engineering, the physical sciences and computer science. Though women constitute half of the total U.S. college-educated workforce, they make up only 29% of the science and engineering workforce, according to the Project. Thus, making STEM careers more lopsided.
Myths and societal stereotypes play a significant role in deterring girls and women from choosing Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) careers (nbcnews.com). Girls and women suffer the most from stereotypical thinking that blocks society’s ability to think beyond such myths. It is this false belief that math ability is genetic that has led to the gender gap in STEM careers.
Economic Policy Institute’s study on gender pay gap points out that part of this problem may be because of choosing a college major. The study states that women tend to choose humanities over STEM majors. And humanities often lead to lower-salaried jobs as compared to STEM fields that have higher-salaried jobs.
“I wanted to create a book that blended the STEM topics and taught girls that math can be fun and to be proud of their image and accomplishments,” says Sarah Shipley, CEO of Shipley Communications, LLC.
Shipley started this project a little more than 10 years ago, after her daughter was born. Her husband was stationed in Afghanistan and wrote stories for his daughter. She wanted to bring one of such stories to life and thus, Off-Kilta Matilda was born.
As a mother, Shipley had overheard conversations like “math is hard” or “ I am not good at math.” She wants to offer a positive vocabulary and inculcate confidence in girls about math and science because she believes that “what you say becomes reality.”
The book and other educational resources seek to bring an end to society’s myths and false beliefs about learning STEM subjects, especially when it comes to young girls. So girls can have a much better future, so they can become economically strong and the society can benefit from it in multifarious ways. There is no such thing as genetic ability in math, as many would agree.
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About Shipley Communications LLC
Shipley Communications specializes in you. It's your company, your brand and your market. We understand branding, events, public relations, logo design, verbal identity, web design, fundraising and crisis communication. At Shipley Communications, we believe that good communication is simple, honest and can change the world. We build relationships with the words we write and love to do good work for good people.
Sarah Shipley, Shipley Communications, http://www.shipleycommunications.org, +1 202-577-7141, [email protected]
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