Leveraging cultural values and “ways of knowing” to increase diversity in maker activities

Though the “maker movement” has become an international phenomenon in recent years it has been mostly embraced by highly educated and wealthy men. As the makerspaces and fabrication labs become a more mainstream method used by schools to motivate students to explore STEM domains, lack of engagement among women and other underrepresented groups is a major concern. Building upon literature from the feminist tradition, the Bots for Tots project explores the affordances of activity framings and structures that tap into learners' cultural values and alternate mental dispositions to broaden participation and interest in maker activities. In this paper I describe a workshop where 9-10-year-old children were tasked with constructing “dream toys” for 4-year old students in their school. Data collected from interviews, observations, and student-built project suggest that when making is framed as being a set of practices, skills, and technologies to connect with one's community, young girls are likely to be initially motivated to engage in the maker activity, persist through construction challenges, and to show interest in further exploring making and technology.