Teaching Girls to Tinker

azadrozny writes: Recently girls have been gaining ground and are now surpassing boys in almost all areas of academic achievement. Given this, why are girls still not choosing to pursue degrees in engineering and computer science? One possible explanation is that girls are not being taught to tinker. The author writes, "Boys see computers as toys interesting in their own right, while girls see them as tools for accomplishing tasks. By approaching computers and other mechanical devices as toys, boys are able to learn how they function from the inside out. ... When tinkering with machines, they develop their mechanical reasoning, an arena of cognitive skill that boasts one of the largest of all gender gaps." Teaching girls to how tinker at a young age will provide them the critical skills necessary to enter these fields.