Women’s History Month Spotlight: Debbie Sterling

Debbie Sterling founded GoldieBlox in 2012 after quitting her job as an engineer. GoldieBlox is a children’s construction toy that combines learning and practicing STEM concepts alongside telling a story, and is marketed towards girls. Debbie founded GoldieBlox due to several factors. Debbie got her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and during her undergraduate studies she realized how few women there are in the STEM field. She did two years of further study on child development and gendered marketing, and made three discoveries: that there were almost no STEM toys marketed towards girls, that girls excel in verbal and reading skills, and that many girls lose interest in math and science in early childhood. All of the above findings, combined with her experience in the engineering field, inspired her to combine storytelling with learning construction in a toy marketed towards girls in order to encourage more women to join the STEM field. In 2012 she started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of GoldieBlox, which reached its initial funding goal of $150,000 after just four days and went on to ultimately raise $285,881 by the end of the campaign.

If you want advice on navigating the STEM field as a woman or want to explore career options in the STEM field, you can make an appointment with one of our career coaches! 

By TechCrunch – https://www.flickr.com/photos/52522100@N07/21601053752, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97195369

By Avery Caya
Avery Caya Graduate Assistant, CLAS/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (They/Them/Theirs)