Girls only?

Countless studies have been conducted into the best strategy for attracting more women to the exact and natural sciences. In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, the government launched various campaigns to encourage girls to choose a technical or science degree. Technical universities organised, for example, shadowing days for girls under the rather unappealing slogan ‘Thea studies engineering’. Personally, I was rather put off by this type of forced recruitment. The reason I chose a technical degree was because my parents showed me in various ways how fascinating science can be. I was won over after a visit to the Evoluon in Eindhoven. But I probably would have been just the same had I been a boy.

A researcher in the making

Three young female scientists — Karen van den Akker (chemistry), Nadine Duursma (aerospace engineering) and Liselotte Nass (chemistry) — have together produced the book Met mama naar Mars (To Mars with Mum). The aim of this book is to introduce young girls to technology and to show them what truly ‘cool’ things you can do with it. The book lends itself best as a read-aloud book for children in Years 1 to 4 of primary school.

In the story, the main character Luna wants to travel to Mars with her mother, who is an astronaut. But the rocket won’t launch. Luna sets out to investigate, visiting various scientists involved in building the rocket to find out what the problem is. The designer, the engineer, the programmer and the chemist — all women — explain what their contribution to the rocket was. The curious and analytical Luna is a little researcher in the making.

The story is pleasantly constructed and not too difficult for children to follow. A nice touch is that the names of the scientists are all derived from those of real, prominent researchers (including Marie Curie and Katherine Johnson).

Not a man in sight

It is rather a shame that this book targets girls quite so specifically. It is all well and good to present female scientists as role models, but it does come across as somewhat contrived. Was the entire rocket really built by and for women? Not a man in sight? Not even one to make the coffee? Perhaps Luna has a little brother or a male friend who also wants a seat on the rocket?

In 2024, it apparently remains necessary to address girls specifically in order to spark their interest in scientific subjects. The world of the target audience is dominated by a relentless pink onslaught of princesses and unicorns. A book like Met mama naar Mars can certainly help to show girls that it is perfectly ‘normal’ to have interests beyond that saccharine world of clichés. It only takes one girl to be won over by this book, just as I was won over by a visit to the Evoluon.