Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

Why is it important to advocate for girls in STEM? There are so many statistics and studies out there that show there is a significant gap of women in STEM careers compared to men. By closing this gap and making it smaller, we are giving an abundance of opportunities to various careers in the STEM fields. This also helps create more diverse work environments and limits bias when it comes to the different types of perspectives when working on various projects in these spaces. For us as educators, we have the opportunity to inspire our young students, especially girls in our education space, to bring to light these amazing opportunities that are out there, specifically in STEM. And our guest today definitely has that same passion as we do in this elementary STEM space. Today, we are hearing from Alexandrina Satnoianu, and we first connected over on Instagram. And what is so amazing about this virtual world is, well, we've never met in person, son, and she's all the way in Lithuania, and we have the opportunity to connect and chat on Instagram. She is also a member of my STEM teacher bookshelf membership.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:35]:

And when I had her in on a call, she was so amazing. It was the middle of the night for her, but just hearing her story and her passion and what she is doing, advocating for girls in STEM is absolutely amazing and I knew that I needed to have her as a guest on this podcast. Alexandrina is a gender equality expert and communications professional and the work that she is doing is so important for not only girls in her community but her own children. She is the mother of 2. One of them is an adult, and one of them still is a child. And it is so amazing to hear all of the things that she has done to raise her girls where one of her daughters, her adult child, is actually in the STEM field today where her daughter is an aerospace engineer and also a pilot. Likewise, Alexandrina is doing amazing work for her younger daughter to advocate for her in STEM and is also starting up and continuing a STEM club for her daughter and girls at her school to expose them to lots of different ways to collaborate, critically think, and get excited about STEM. Alexandrina finds her inspiration from her experience of gender studies and also her experience as a mother and providing those opportunities in the STEM and STEAM space where we can close that gap when it comes to women in STEM and make a positive difference.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:15]:

She is working on so many more projects that I am mentioning here. So when you are done listening to this episode, make sure to go and check out her bio, which will be linked in the show notes because her full story and also the things that she'll be describing today are absolutely amazing and powerful and also inspirational to help us as educators and also other parents who are out there listening to this, how we can make STEM more accessible for all children but specifically girls in this space. I am so excited for you to listen to this episode. So let's jump on in and get inspired.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:55]:

Well, thank you so much, Alexandria, for being here today. We have connected over on social media, and you send me some blog posts. And, I know that you are a listener of the podcast and even join in our STEM your bookshelf community, and I'm so glad that you're here as a guest because when I knew what you were doing was so impactful and powerful, but when I heard you speak about what you're doing, advocating for girls in steam, and we'll get into that. But just, like, hearing your story, just a little snapshot in our book club call.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:00]:

I knew I had to have you as a guest, and then, side note, I'm grabbing your daughter for some other secret project coming up. But I'm really curious as to you have such a big background in the business world and everything that you've done. How did you get into the actual work of advocating for girls in STEM or STEAM?

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:05:23]:

Yes. STEAM is, what I, prefer. So thank you so much, Naomi, for your invite and having me here. You know me. I'm really passionate about the STEM education, and I have to thank you and the amazing content that you are putting up for deepening my interest and knowledge into STEAM. Actually, my background is in, gender equality. I graduated from gender studies, and I think that's the start, with my interest in in STEAM. Having access to the evidence and having, seeing that there are not enough, women professionals Working in science, technology, engineering, art, and math altogether. Actually, made me, become more of an advocate.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:06:18]:

I am of a curious nature, always, passionate about scientific discoveries. I think I got this from my father and from my mom, the appreciation for math. She was a seamstress. So, basically, thanks to her measurement and calculations, she was making dresses, and I've witnessed this, in my childhood. So I think because we do not have enough, women working in these areas, we are not yet that 40% gender balance, then there is not this critical mass, that, would help them Push through the innovations and take advantage of the existing technologies. So the work that they are doing, does not actually end up, representing, different, realities and needs of of women. And I can give a very trivial example. I think many of us, women, passing through the airports were queuing at the toilets.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:07:17]:

Yes. You have 2 toilets for women, 2 toilets for men, but the reality is that we need more time. This is a physiological reality, and sometimes due to our caring responsibilities, We also come in with with children, so that takes us even more time. But maybe there are not enough women to reflect on these needs, and there are maybe not enough women in the decision making positions to actually approve The constructions of 2 extra toilets that would be solving these needs. So I guess this is a very simple, out of everyone's realities type of an example of why we need more women in STEAM.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:01]:

That is a great example and so true. I actually was just at the airport last night, but I even listened to this book. It's not a STEM book, but it's great. It's called Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, who is the CEO of Facebook. Right? Book. Yeah.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:08:20]:

Right?

Naomi Meredith [00:08:21]:

Yeah. And she talks about that in her book. She's not an engineer. She has a STEM job, but she advocated for, having parking spots that are actually closer to the building for women who are expecting because she didn't ever think about that until she was super pregnant, and she said that her pregnancies were horrible. And she was so uncomfortable, and she advocated for that, but she's, like, being in an industry that's male dominant that that wasn't ever something that was talked about or even thought about, and she felt bad not even noticing that because she was experiencing it, and they actually kept the parking spot. So that's really great that that's something. But like you said, like, trivial but also important, it's daily life

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:09:07]:

too. Yep. Yep. Yep. And, I think women, just because they are encountering the situations, are more prone to finding solutions or innovative, solutions to solve these issues. So that's why I think, it is a matter of Democratic representation, but it is also a matter of having, women working in these fields having access to the resources and opportunities to bring in big change, that would solve some of the problems. And I think You and I and all other women, viewers and listeners can come in with many other examples, but these are, Yes. Just 2.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:09:50]:

So let's push for having more girls and women in STEAM because, honestly, just the numbers are going to be saving or changing the situations.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:02]:

Oh, absolutely. I even notice with girls, even in my LEGO, robotics club that I'm hosting right now at different schools. It's so interesting, and I've seen this too in other clubs where the girls, they can definitely tackle a challenge no problem, but they always not always, but very often, they add these artistic elements in the design part and the storytelling And just that little bit of creativity, not to say boys can't, but I've noticed that as a trend especially where, Oh, we need to have this part here so that the kids can wash their hands, or we need this part for the family. And so there's that element of that empathy and realizing how everything's connected together. So the next time you are doing a project with girls, Listen to how they're talking about things because the way that they discuss their, projects and their ideas have a different flow than typically what groups of all boys do, and I don't know if you've seen that in your STEM clubs with your girls.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:11:12]:

Actually, I was, thinking whether to start the STEAM club as a girl's club or not, but it was the book of Gitanjali Rao, an innovator's guide to STEM. Yes. This is hard to refer the acronym, that she kind of convinced me that the girls need a safe space in which they could have the freedom and feel they have the right to tackle, problems a bit differently or at their own pace or If they want, however they want, because it might be that sometimes, they don't know how to do it, and they are questioning, and They are turning the problem, to see it from different angles, and only once they have some sort of a deeper understanding, they actually work on developing the solutions where the boys are more prone to taking action, Testing and improving and testing and improving. There are different, approaches to to innovation that girls and boys take. And in the mixed class at this age, just because boys, they also might feel more confident. They could have even taken more space. Girls could be feeling more intimidated, and they would not get involved as much. So in the end, I decided to run a STEAM girls club, and I have to say that there are issues that they are bringing to the table that I think pertain to their experiences.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:12:47]:

And I'm super happy because, in my opinion, it's not only about having the skills and knowing how to work with the tools in the case of girls just because, as I said, they are a minority in all these, Fields, they also need to feel they have the confidence and the right, and they need constant empowerment From my point of view, from my gender studies, from my reading, from my parenting experience, yes, it kind of led me to believe that we need a bit of an Innovative approach with, with STEM education that takes this, empowerment into account.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:27]:

I agree with you, and I actually ran an all girls STEM club at my school, my 1st or couple years in that position, and it was a wonder workshop, wonder lake competition where it was robotics and building to solve the problem, and that was really important for me to start off with that because The kids don't really have STEM anyway as a class, but having that where it was girl specific and just really and I even recruited some girls where They didn't actually sign up. I sought them out knowing that they would I really wanted to push them in that direction. So if that's something as a teacher. I know it can be hard if you're teaching all the kids in the school or you have your own class. Maybe if you're a classroom teacher, you do a girls' STEM club, like a lunch club, and you do it once a week, or, you do run an after school club because I think those connections where girls are empowering other girls too, like, we're empowering them as the teacher, but also Them empowering each other is so important for them to learn at a young age so that they can be supportive and, like, it's healthy to have good disagreements and come to a conclusion, and so it's really teaching them those soft skills that are essential in whatever career they decide as they grow up. What are you doing in your club? What are your what kinds of things are you guys doing in your girls' club?

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:15:00]:

Well, you know, it's, fresh. We've just started this, year. So this the school year started in September, And it is actually open to girls, from the 6th grade. Also, because my little one, I have two daughters. So my little one, she's a 6th grader as well. So, yeah, I kind of had this Double agenda on one hand, to put my ideas in practice, on the other hand, to create this entourage which, my daughter and some other girls, they feel safe to develop their kind of interest in science and Get to play with the tools and get to experiment. So, yeah, we started by, I started by introducing the girls to Gitanjali Rao, and they were very, very surprised that a girl almost their age. Well, they are 12.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:16:03]:

She and Gitanjali were 15, at the age she received the prior. But they were really impressed that you can be an innovator at such young age, and we discussed about The problems that they encounter in their real life and which would be the ones they would pick, for which they would like to work for their own developing solutions. And, I was really surprised that most of them in one way or another said climate change. It's either fighting pollution or, mitigating climate change effects or, getting to improve the rights of the of the children in Africa working in in mines, Also a bit connected. So we kind of agreed together, took a bit of, democratic approach. So we took climate change, as a topic, and the girls, wanted to work on developing Scratch, animations or videos through which they would be kind of inspiring their colleagues on, what they could be personally doing to mitigate the climate change effects. Like, really, don't take the elevator, compost the, organic, leftovers. Don't buy new clothes, sell your games, and board games on Vinted.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:17:38]:

We have here an application, an app that is quite successful for, commercializing secondhand items. All sorts of ideas they came up with, and this is what we are currently working on. But just because it was Halloween, we had a very special edition Inspired also by your podcast on, how to work with pumpkins, for steam activities, And we developed, pumpkin batteries, which was super, super cool. So let's see.

Naomi Meredith [00:18:16]:

Definitely send pictures if you have any, and we can put them on here. This could be a whole blog post for you. You could write a blog post about each of those.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:18:26]:

I do have. I do have tons of pictures because the girls, they were honestly So involved and so happy. And it was for real estate project because, it was the Electricity part, the surprise part in which we got to connect the pumpkins. We had 4 pumpkins. We connected, In in a series, and they add, altogether, they had enough voltage for light up, LED, like, and then it was actually the whole, pumpkin battery experiment for, a pumpkin competition, pumpkin contest at school, and they created a poster. So there was also the artistic, aspect of it. And they were really, really, really Well together, and, I was super proud of them. Unfortunately, they did not win, but they are winners to me.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:19:24]:

Yeah. And I have a prize with them. Oh, that's so

Naomi Meredith [00:19:27]:

sweet. Oh, I'm sure they love it. How many girls are in your group?

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:19:31]:

Well, this is it. I was not so I'm sure how to take it. We started with 5 girls, and I was a bit bummed, but Then I thought, well, this is the reality. It's true that the club was announced a bit late. So 3 weeks after school started, many many of the kids have already enrolled to some, after school activities. And there was also this perception that, it's not so much for girls even if it's dedicated to girls. So there is this issue that girls do not see themselves, as working or studying or being passionate about this area. But I'm super happy also because I do not have the hands on experience.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:20:22]:

I don't know if I would have handled a bigger number of girls. So 5, he's already quite a lot, to be honest, because I'm not I'm more than teacher, and I do not impose, the authority of a teacher. And sometimes it's really they it's after school, and they are so relaxed with me that, I have to say, yes. I I need to improve also my way of getting them, involved and keeping them focused on what it is that we are actually working on. But the battery experiment was a super hit. I think they love this kind of activities.

Naomi Meredith [00:21:03]:

Oh, definitely. And they're gonna talk about it more and more. Like you said, it's not they don't see themselves in this type of club, which is why you should have that. So you're doing great work. Yeah. And having a small amount, you can for you as the teacher, you'll learn your tips and tricks, and I'm sure more girls will want to start joining, and they'll talk about it. And, I mean, it's great you have your daughter in there so she can help promote for you.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:21:31]:

Yes. Yeah. I was actually not sure how she would see it because it's the age that we, you know, kids, they tease each other. So I was very gentle, to be honest. Really asking her if she wants to join, if she's okay with it. And she's a big, big Support her. I think she does a great job talking about this the STEAM club with with the other girls, and She seems very cool and at ease with it. So just because she's, so authentically seeing herself as a steam girl, I think it it is convincing for the other girls.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:22:12]:

And to be honest, I've also read in a study that this is what makes the difference. So they looked back in the study, and asked the girls that they graduated and become engineers. What exactly made them, choose this, career? And they had some some options. And among The most important factor, it was also that they saw themselves as engineers. They picture themselves in this role. Besides having good math skills, having a good impression about education in general, an interest in natural sciences. So I think it's very important to normalize. That's why I say that we have to give the girls this feeling that they have the right to be in this air in this area.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:23:05]:

They don't need to be special in many ways. I also think the parents expect the girls to be geniuses, but that's not the case. Any normal Girl can be a steam girl. And, yes, I know what I'm talking about since I have a graduate girl who graduated aerospace engineer at home. So yeah. She's very normal.

Naomi Meredith [00:23:30]:

Yes. Yes. Well, tell me. Okay. You told us in the book club, the STEM teacher bookshelf a little bit more about this, and your daughter's actually gonna be helping me with a project that is aligning with exactly what you're saying, helping kids see themselves in STEM. So you have done some things at home since that you're so passionate about this, but also just to help your daughters. What types of things have you done for your daughters? Because your daughter didn't just step into aerospace engineering. I know you were doing some things at home to kinda help her see that could be a possibility for her and also your little one too.

Naomi Meredith [00:24:07]:

You told me you do things with her as well.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:24:09]:

Yeah. Yes. Well, I am happy that I've overcome my negative experience in high school, where I encountered a misogynist teacher who was telling us, the girls in the class, You are beautiful but stupid? Well, those were the times. You know? Many, many years

Naomi Meredith [00:24:31]:

ago. Bitch.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:24:32]:

Yes. And, of course, it stirred me away for good because I was studying math and physics high level in in high school, but encountering On daily basis because I had math day daily classes of math, encountering this type of an attitude, it's Totally steered me away from, studying sciences or math. But somehow, it it It remained with me and this appreciation for for math. I passed it on to my daughter. Actually, we were, solving problems together as a mother daughter activity, helping her out to participate in some math competition that she wanted to to score the highest, 1 100 points, and she had very good math skills and confidence in her math skills. So there is a bit of a difference because girls nowadays, they do have good math skills, but they don't have, the confidence. So I think it it makes a big difference. Other than that, both myself and my husband, I think we took, nongender stereotypical, bringing, approach in a sense that, She got really exposed early on to robotics classes, coding classes.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:25:57]:

She was taught how to fix her bike. We treated her not really as as a girl that should be in a certain way, but this a child that should have many, many opportunities. And we opened up, I think, in this way, and her interest in STEAM, but that onwards, it's her own merit for Keeping up, for not being intimidated. Of course, I was coaching her and supporting all the way, But sometimes it's difficult since you are the only girl in the or there is another colleague, in the computer science class are, later on when she decided she wants to study, aerospace engineering to be among the few girls in in, in her group or in the hangar or whatever project it can be deterring. So this empowerment, I think it's very important. It played a huge role. And I wanted to learn or to think in retrospect and see what can I learn from this experience of raising my older daughter that I can apply with my little one, but she's totally different? She's an alpha generation child, digitally native. She doesn't do things just because I say so or give, the example of her older sister doing stuff.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:27:32]:

So I had to take a bit of a different approach. So with with her, again, very gentle, giving examples, providing opportunities to do things together, just to Play along to tease her interest, but no real push. Stepping aside if I see that it It's something that she doesn't like, so totally honoring, and respecting her her interests. And so far, it worked Well, and this is what I'm writing about in my STEAM parenting blog. Yeah. This generation is totally totally different, and we raise them. I think to have a voice, to be aware of who they are and their interests, and you cannot overstep that.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:28:30]:

So I think yeah. STEAM education has to take into account, their interests. Yeah.

Naomi Meredith [00:28:39]:

Oh, you're doing you you're a great job, mom. Like, I love that. Like, if I ever had kids, like, that's like, feel like I'll call you up. Hey. Can you just, like, raise my kids for me? Can you just do it

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:28:52]:

for me? Well, you know, every kid is different. Then they, I don't see this with my girls, so you have to you have to adjust. But, you know, there are some Principles, and I also know that I don't want to do things that I wouldn't want to be done to me. So I think that's that's the basics.

Naomi Meredith [00:29:17]:

Yeah. You're doing great, and you're sharing that with other kids in the school community, and that's going to grow. Yeah. What are all the different projects that you have going on that teachers and parents can check out?

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:29:31]:

Yes. I've mentioned that I am documenting my parenting experience with my little one on a teen parenting blog. I am fully admiring, the pace with which you are developing content and podcast. I am still catching up. Oh, good. But I would love I would love to to, to write and post, With an increased frequency at the moment, Yeah. It's, it's still a project to to grow. I started, as you also said, to talk with parents at school.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:30:11]:

So I'm, I'm involved. I'm a school counselor. I'm involved, with the community. I held presentations. Also, I kind of became aware of maybe 10 small improvements that we could make or micro adjustments to our parenting. I've made a a presentation, at the Spring International Steam Summit. I always seem to forget the title. And the presentation is on the ten things, or 10 steps you could be taking for more intentional STEAM parenting.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:30:58]:

Mhmm. I'm sure that many of us are doing all these. Just to give you an example, not, restricting, steam, or connecting STEAM only to Lego Robotics coding. STEAM can be just because of the use of technology can be any area. Something I said earlier, do not expect your girl to be showing, signs of genies. She can be very, very much herself with her interest in unicorns and, pink, fairies, whatever, take her from, where she is and just, provide her with an opportunity to know more. So include visits to museums in your travels or in your Weekends routines, make experiments, integrated scientific vocabulary, or, prone, conversations that lead to more inquiry. So there are many small things we can do that in a way leads to a big change.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:32:19]:

So I think This is, one of my, my strengths, my interests overall, having, As I said, my background in gender equality, the, reads, the studies, and then my Parenting experience, it kind of led me to believe that we need this innovative approach in STEAM education where we make the girls feel they have the confidence, the right and the skills to pursue a STEAM career. And I'm working on this innovative concept of steam education. I will I will see how I will be, able to develop it yeah. Presented at conferences or just study more, but it's definitely, I need an interest, a a passion, for me. So, yeah, this would be, my interest, I'm talking about it on my blog, on my Instagram. So I think, peer viewers, parents, teachers, if they have questions, interested, want to reach out to me, I'm fully open. I'm really, really happy to be part of this team community.

Naomi Meredith [00:33:45]:

Well, you are definitely walking the walk, not just talking the talk. You are doing great work, and you should be so proud of what you're doing. And you're doing this in such a kind way, and not you're it's just like a very welcoming way in the way that you are presenting this where it is so needed, did, and it's not making people feel bad, but making others be aware. And we'll have the links to everything in the show notes. So the International Steam Summit, by Wonder Workshop. You might still be able to watch it. I think they leave them up. It's free.

Naomi Meredith [00:34:20]:

Yeah. You might still be able actually to go and watch it. But then if not, you guys have to follow her on her blog and Instagram and see what where she's presenting next. So, I appreciate all the work that you're doing, Alexandrina, and, definitely a topic that isn't talked about enough, whether it's in the parent community or even in the STEM teacher community or teacher community in general. And so I'm So grateful that, you are a guest on our show. Thank you so much for being here.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:34:53]:

Thank you so much for the invite. It felt really, like, long needed conversation between the 2 of us, and I hope that, many more will follow. And thank you once more for everything that you are doing. It it's really inspirational. So much of my work is also, thanks to you.

Naomi Meredith [00:35:15]:

Oh, thank you. That's so kind of you. We need we need a big community to help keep this going in our world. So, we'd

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:35:24]:

Yeah.

Naomi Meredith [00:35:24]:

I can't do it alone. So we need everybody to, raise up their voices and keep doing great work in our STEM world and overall world for kids.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:35:36]:

Yes. And this is how we will be actually bringing In the change that we've talked at the beginning that it's so much needed. So, yeah, let's, let's promise each other that we will be talking in 5 years From now and hopefully with improved statistics and Yes. More positive outcome.

Naomi Meredith [00:35:56]:

Absolutely. And I can't wait to see what your little one ends up doing, how she pursues her dreams and uses her talents. So I'm excited to hear. She'll be way older in 5 years, so she might always be done in high she'll be close to being done at high school. So I can't wait to hear what she ends up doing too.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:36:13]:

Yes. Correct. That would be a perfect timing. So by then, I think she would have to be decided on what she wants to study because now she is so much gravitating between, different careers. But honestly, I don't feel…how to say? I'm not worried at all. I feel like I'm doing my best. I'm opening up my heart's interest in STEM. As I said, many of the areas, they are potential team areas.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:36:46]:

So whatever she's choosing or will be choosing, it's going to be fine. She's going to be great.

Naomi Meredith [00:36:53]:

Well, I can't wait to hear it. I know we'll keep in touch over the next 5 years, but I thank you so much again for being on the podcast. You're amazing, and keep up the awesome work that you're doing as an advocate.

Alexandrina Satnoianu [00:37:05]:

Thank you so much. I will.