All-Girls STEM Camps Are Under Fire For Excluding Boys, But Are They Even Helpful For Girls?

Article here. Excerpt:

'Neuroscientist and gender expert Lise Eliot, author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps – And What We Can Do About It says she’s not a big fan of single-gender STEM programs, “I do see them as discriminatory, and I have yet to see good evidence that they increase the number of women who persevere in STEM. Instead, I wonder if it sends a message not unlike segregated sports teams, that girls aren't actually as capable as boys, so need their own STEM league—which sadly never makes it to the Majors.”

There is indeed no evidence that these programs are effective. An analysis in Science reports, "The data [on girls-only STEM camps] don’t exist because researchers have conducted no high-quality evaluations of such programs. Most camps settle for a simple precamp and postcamp attitudinal survey. Any follow up is strictly anecdotal. And forget about a randomized control trial. Educators say such an assessment would be impractical, intrusive, and the cost would be prohibitive."'