Changing mindset Girl scouts with a Department of Energy resource person. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Cusi wants to break stereotypes

Gender stereotyping happens when pre-conceived ideas on the roles, attributes, behavior or activities of individuals based on their being male or female are established.

These include the expectation that girls should play with dolls, while boys are to play with toy trucks.

It may also include over-generalized statements such as “engineering is a course for boys,” or “girls shouldn’t be rough.”

To break gender stereotyping, the Department of Energy (DoE) recently encouraged girl scouts to consider a career in the energy sector through its 3rd ENEReady Program.

The event was undertaken by the DoE’s Consumer Welfare and Promotion Office with the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) recently at the Energy Center in Bonifacio Global City.

Jobs in the energy sector are generally dominated by men, a stereotypical thinking Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi himself wants to break.

Participants included 38 Grade 10 GSP students from the J. Nolasco, Lakan Dula, V. Mapa, and M. Araullo High Schools, as well as troupe leaders and officers from the GSP Headquarters.

Discussions revolved around the concept of “gender stereotyping” and how often it is unknowingly ingrained by elders into the minds of young children.

A female board topnotcher and electrical engineer from the Manila Electric Company simulated the Power Supply Chain through a fun role-playing game called “The Sushi Challenge”.

Students were grouped into sushi producer/suppliers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers to give them an overview of how electricity is produced from its generation to consumption.

Male and female speakers from different disciplines of engineering also shared the experiences and challenges they have encountered.

These included withstanding different odors as animal and plant residues are converted to electricity, climbing mountains, exploring and drilling wells, as well as rigorous controlled trainings on the emergency procedures for reacting to and surviving a helicopter ditching into the sea.

To serve as inspiration for the participants to pursue courses in science, technology, math and engineering (STEM), the workshop also featured success stories of Filipino women in these fields.

The culminating activity was a tour of the DOE’s Lighting and Appliance Testing Laboratory, where the children witnessed how energy efficiency is measured by the DoE personnel.

The workshop was the 13th ENEReady program held since its launch in 2016 and has reached out to more than 2,000 students to date.