Evaluating Children’s Literature: Female characters in STEM roles

This thesis is a research project on lead female characters in STEM roles in children's literature. The growing gender gap of females to males in STEM careers, and limited number of role models and information for young girls is what inspired the project. Specific criteria were established to evaluate the literature to be compiled into an annotated bibliography. Books were found through websites, libraries, and academic journals. It was found that much of the STEM literature had common characteristics among them and were meant to encourage and inspire readers. The female protagonists in the literature were either real life women who contributed to STEM fields in their lifetime, or fictional characters engaging in STEM fields.