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Hello, Jiwon (and others on the list)!

There's a lot of really good research that Girl Scouts of the USA did a
couple years ago on the needs of girls ages 11-17 and what they want in
programs that serve them. Some major themes came up:

Research showed three very distict developmental age groups: ages 11-12,
ages 13-15, and ages 16-17. The needs and desires (and consequently what
kind of stuff they're into) changes dramatically from age group to age
group. This would be a good thing to think about when you're planning
out your program; instead of "middle school," for example (and I know
"middle school" varies from district to district), you might want to
think in terms of slightly different age groupings.

Girls really want to be involved in the planning of their programs.
Really. Really. You betcha. Can I emphasize this any more? :) What this
means for you is that they're probably less likely to take you up on a
set program where you do x,y, and z; they're much more likely to be
interested in something where they can plan and take the lead on at
least part of it, in tandem with adults who can support their efforts
(but not take over). 

In terms of the adults working with the girls, girls want different-aged
adults with varied backgrounds - in particular, adults in the 18-29 age
range. This most certainly DOES NOT say that adults older than 29 can't
be good mentors for girls! Rather, it acknowledges that girls want to
learn from the experiences of the next age group older than them -
they're curious about it, which makes perfect sense given it's where
they'll be in a few short years. So if you're working on an exhibit
profiling female doctors, past and present, a team of leaders for the
girls that includes both an established professional (who can answer the
"what's it really like to be a doctor?" questions) and, say, someone
who's in med school or pre-med (who can answer the "what's it like to be
a doctor-in-training?" questions) would be great.

Those were some of the most major themes. If you're interested, the
executive summary is available at
http://www.girlscouts.org/research/publications/original/ten_emerging_tr
uths.asp. There's a lot of great information about what girls in the
11-17 age bracket are looking for in out-of-school experiences.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions...

-Stephanie


Stephanie Lingwood
Science and Arts Program Manager, Girl Scouts - Totem Council
[log in to unmask]   800/767-6845 ext. 251




-----Original Message-----
From: Kim, Jiwon (NIH/NLM) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 7:15 AM
Subject: Study on the best communication approach for middle school
girls


ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
************************************************************************
*****

Hi everyone,

I am seeking some studies/information on how best to communicate with
middle school girls--i.e., what would appeal to them, and encourage
their participation in programming and touring an exhibition about women
doctors in the United States (both historical and contemporary).

If anyone knows of and can recommend published studies or contact info,
I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!


Jiwon Kim
Education & Outreach
Exhibition Program
National Library of Medicine
Bethesda, Maryland
301-496-5963 (office)
301-461-5859 (cell)
[log in to unmask]

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