Biography
GoldieBlox: Inspiring Young Girls in Engineering Through STEM Toys
While pursuing her degree in Engineering at Stanford University, Debbie Sterling became concerned over how few women were in her program, and that the number of women engineers worldwide totaled only 14 percent, and only 11 percent in the U.S. Upon graduating from Stanford in 2005 with her Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, Debbie decided to use her design skills to inspire and motivate more young women in Engineering – but at a younger age – since studies show that without intervention, girls tend to begin showing less interest in science, math, and engineering when they are as young as eight.
This laid the foundation for her 2012 launch of GoldieBlox, the award-winning children’s multimedia company that is challenging gender stereotypes with the world’s first girl engineer character. Debbie, founder and CEO of the company, has become internationally recognized for creating award-winning toys and media featuring Goldie, a young engineer who guides girls to develop problem-solving skills and building projects, introducing girls to the world of engineering through a tech-savvy female role model.
Such toys are an excellent way to introduce young girls to the concepts of engineering at an early age, while helping to dispel the perception that construction toys are “just for boys,” said Debbie in a talk at TEDxPSU. “Kids who score better on spatial skills tests grew up playing with construction toys,” she added. “GoldieBlox is a multimedia company that introduces girls to engineering and inventing without making them feel alienated from their peers.”
For her work in empowering girls around the world in STEM fields, Debbie has received numerous honors, including: being inducted by President Obama as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship; and honored by the National Women’s History Museum with a “Living Legacy” Award.
GoldieBlox has over 1 million app downloads, and over 1 million toys sold across more than 6,000 major retailers worldwide.
For more information, please visit:
https://www.goldieblox.com/pages/about
