Bringing the Girls Inc. experience to more girls

As a Girls Inc. investor, you know well that women and girls are still limited in our society: systemic barriers exist that interfere with true equality at every stage of their life.

Recent research reported by New York Times suggests our culture inadvertently endorses the awareness that intelligence is an inherently male characteristic. Disturbingly, this incorrect perception affects the attitudes of children from the tender age of 6 years old. By this stage, girls are already indoctrinated with the belief that their own brilliance is inferior to their male peers.

The damage is done in early childhood: girls internalize these messages, damaging their potential, changing their interests and impacting their future career choices.

The study presented children ages 5-7 with two stories about an unnamed protagonist of an unspecified gender. One character was referred to as “really, really smart” and the other was decidedly “really, really kind.” The young subjects were shown four pictures – two males and two females – and asked to guess which might be the protagonist from the stories. What is interesting, is that at age 5, boys and girls are equally likely to associate intelligence with their own gender. However, by age 6, most of the girls indicated that the “smart” person in the story must be male.

The findings of this study, while alarming, are not surprising: and that’s why we’re here. Researchers suggest that early and consistent mentoring and access to successful role models positively increases motivation and stimulates competitive intelligence in girls.

Your commitment to Girls Inc. ensures that our high-impact, research-based programming, educators, and mentors are able to intervene during critical stages of development: from childhood to adolescence. We work to combat the stereotypes and gender barriers, so that every girl grows up to be strong, smart, bold, and most importantly, to know that she is equal as a woman.

As a Girls Inc. donor, you make a significant investment in girls everywhere: to the girls we currently serve, and to the girls we plan to serve in the future through our current strategic plan. We’re proud to share that by March, up to twenty of our local affiliates will be embarking on an aggressive growth campaign. Within the next three years, more than $14 million from our Growth Capital Campaign will be disbursed directly back to those local affiliates that are ready to increase services, to the benefit of even more girls all across the country.

We are excited by this significant progress towards our goal of doubling the number of girls we serve by 2020. We are honored to count you as a partner in this much needed movement to build a better future for girls everywhere.

Together, we will work hard to ensure that no girl puts limits on her potential or aspirations because of her gender.

Warm regards,

Judy Vredenburgh

President & CEO

Links:

• New York Times Article