How Girl Scouts is building future-ready leaders
As the largest girl-led movement in the world, Girl Scouts leverages more than a century of experience in helping prepare girls for real-world challenges while building important and lifelong skills across a variety of industries and disciplines.
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If your only regular contact with Girl Scouts involves the boxes of Thin Mints stashed in your freezer, then you may not realize all the valuable opportunities the organization offers girls starting as early as kindergarten.
As the largest girl-led movement in the world, Girl Scouts leverages more than a century of experience in helping prepare girls for real-world challenges while building important and lifelong skills across a variety of industries and disciplines. In fact, a recent study revealed that when girls participate in this time-honored, all-girl program, real and tangible benefits emerge that positively shape and influence a girl's life for years to come.
Although benefits appear at every age level, in some cases, early exposure to the benefits of Girl Scouts, such as joining in early elementary school, can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving as girls enter middle and high school.
Some key findings from the study are:
- Although it's common for a girl's sense of self to decline in middle school, a Girl Scout's sense of self increases during this period.
- During middle school, non–Girl Scouts’ interest and involvement in their communities decreases, whereas Girl Scouts' desires to solve problems in their communities rise.
- Girl Scouts have better grades, aspire to higher levels of education, and are more confident about their futures than non–Girl Scouts.
Perhaps the most important revelation of the study is that the benefits of participating in Girl Scouts are not exclusive to any particular demographic group.
The study found that all Girl Scouts are equally likely to develop program outcomes, such as strong sense of self, positive values, healthy relationships and community problem solving, regardless of social class, ZIP code, ethnicity or degree of engagement in other extracurricular activities.
So, no matter where girls live or what their age or background may be, Girl Scouts can help them develop to their full potential.
With almost 60 million girls and alumnae across the nation, it's clear that the Girl Scouts program works. Ninety-percent of U.S. female astronauts, 80 percent of U.S. female tech leaders, 75 percent of U.S. female Senators, and more than half of all U.S. female business owners are part of the Girl Scout sisterhood. And the Girl Scouts aren’t stopping there.
In an effort to continue to move at the speed of today’s girl and provide relevant, innovative leadership programs and experiences for girls, this past July, Girl Scouts rolled out 23 new badges in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and the great outdoors.
From building race cars to programming robots and using resources wisely through environmental conservation and wildlife protection, girls are discovering their passions and using their voices to make sustainable change locally and globally. They are also developing traits such as grit, creative problem solving, resiliency and bravery, all while unleashing their inner G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader).
All of these badges, traits and skills are seamlessly interwoven into the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, a one-of-a-kind program that helps every G.I.R.L. build 21st century skills through hands-on and learning-by-doing experiences.
The Girl Scout Leadership Experience is specifically designed to give girls more opportunities to jump in, take meaningful action, and lead change. The importance of diversity, inclusion, and teamwork is always underscored, as well.
While the facts and figures are certainly impressive, the stories shared by today's Girl Scouts are perhaps the most riveting and compelling reason to join the all-girl movement.
For example, 17-year-old Ivy Breivogel, from Fuquay-Varina, attests that, "Because of my past 13 years as a Girl Scout, I feel more prepared and more confident in my own abilities to be able to face challenges and work through them."
And 2016 National Young Woman of Distinction and Gold Award Girl Scout Sadhana Anantha, of Cary, can attest to the power of a Girl Scout experience, sharing that, "The two most influential STEM experiences during my high school career were spearheaded by STEM programs in Girl Scouts, leading me to branch out into different scientific communities and venture into the modern academic world."
Madeline Fischer, 12, from Leland, speaks to the financial literacy education she’s received through her Girl Scouts experience, saying, "I think the most important skills I have developed are money management, communication and business management. All of these skills are something you will use every day when you get older. Girls Scouts does an excellent job getting girls ready for the real-life experiences."
Whether girls are interested in STEM, the outdoors, leadership, travel, life skills or something else entirely, Girl Scouts offers every G.I.R.L. the opportunity to become the leader she is meant to be, all while being supported by caring adults in a safe, all-girl environment that provides a place where girls can grow, flourish, and thrive.
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