About GLIST
What is GLIST?
GLIST is an after school club at Bala Cynwyd Middle School and was established in September 2014. Its purpose is to encourage girls to be involved in science and technology, without the male-dominance of these fields setting them aback.
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Why at a middle school?
The male-dominance in a field and the stereotypes that can be created from this can lessen an adult woman's confidence and alter their decision to pursue such a field. This lack of leadership can begin at a young age, especially between the ages of 11-14. Therefore, we thought it would be best for GLIST to be a middle school club.
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Science & Technology
GLIST has created a curriculum that teachers first-year coders how to use a programming language called Python. For more experienced coders, GLIST has begun developing a curriculum on one of Python's libraries called PyGame, which is used for programming games.
Read more about GLIST's involvement in coding: |
How was GLIST created?
GLIST was founded by a student at Bala Cynwyd Middle School. During sixth grade, she had an opportunity and the option to study and learn about the under-representation of women in science and technology at school. She learned about the various causes of the lack of females in these fields and decided to mainly focus on one: the stereotypes of a female that are built when doing the same thing as males. In other words, when females enter such an advanced field like science or technology, they are viewed differently than the males that are also studying that field, but towards the negative side. This impression can change their decision about staying involved in science and technology. This overall fear of being thought negatively begins during the teen years of a woman.
To help make a difference and encourage girls to get involved, this student created a club at her school. GLIST is a very welcoming environment to girls who have an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and hopes this can help them when they encounter the experience of being a woman in these fields. After being in the club, this student hopes the members will have a greater interest and knowledge in science and technology and that they will be more powerful and confident leaders.
To help make a difference and encourage girls to get involved, this student created a club at her school. GLIST is a very welcoming environment to girls who have an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and hopes this can help them when they encounter the experience of being a woman in these fields. After being in the club, this student hopes the members will have a greater interest and knowledge in science and technology and that they will be more powerful and confident leaders.
GLIST Girl Experience
Here is what a girl's experience may look like in GLIST:
GLIST Meetings
GLIST meets once a week for two and a half hours. The girls will split into groups based on coding experience. Girls in their first year of GLIST will be taught the basics of Python from a GLIST high school mentor and girls in their second or third year of GLIST will be taught how to use and code games on PyGame from both a GLIST high school mentor and a Computer Science undergraduate mentor. After about an hour and and a half of coding, the girls will regroup to eat snacks and learned about a cool woman in STEM, which we have named the "Cool Women" segment of the meeting. Click here to see and use our Cool Women presentation. After this break, the girls continue to code for the rest of the meeting.
