Addressing Young Girls in STEM: Building Inclusion through Dialogicity. The Case of GoldieBlox

Abstract

Abstract The number of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is still limited compared to men, and one of the reasons for this is the lack of women’s sense of inclusion and belonging within engineering contexts. It has been argued that such a sense of inclusion and belonging might be developed by exposing girls to STEM with specific activities, games, and toys from a young age. This case study explores how the US toy manufacturer GoldieBlox Inc. addresses and includes young children, specifically girls, in the promotion of their products. GoldieBlox is a company that specifically targets girls to encourage their interest in STEM subjects, namely science, technology, and mathematics. Through a close reading and a qualitative analysis of the company’s webpages, this paper explores the links between consumerism, gender, belonging, and promotional language. Under the linguistic lens of dialogicity, I analyse how girls are addressed and included in STEM through the promotion of specific products.

Keywords

• advertising
• belonging
• dialogicity
• inclusion
• stem