Robotics Engineer Barbie is the latest asset in the battle to encourage more girls into tech – and will even help the youngsters to code.
The new doll has been launched by Mattel to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers to girls.
Robotics Engineer Barbie will also help teach real coding skills to children as Mattel is linking up with Tynker, a game-based platform that has helped more than 60 million kids to learn to code.
It is providing six free Barbie-inspired coding experiences at tynker.com/BarbieYCBA.
Mattel said that as only a quarter of STEM jobs are held by women, it wanted to help future generations learn logic, problem-solving and the building blocks of coding.
“For almost 60 years, Barbie has exposed girls to roles where women are underrepresented to show them that they can be anything,” said Lisa McKnight, general manager and senior vice president of Barbie.
“By playing with Robotics Engineer Barbie on and offline, we are giving girls a new platform for play in their imaginary world and teaching them important skills for their real world.”
It is not the first time Barbie has explored STEM. Among the 200 roles she has held since 1959 are astronaut, scientist, video game developer and computer engineer.
“Our mission is to empower youth to become the makers of tomorrow through coding, and the Barbie brand is an ideal partner to help us introduce programming to a large number of kids in a fun, engaging way,” said Krishna Vedati, co-founder and CEO, Tynker.
“It’s critical that all young learners have an opportunity to explore the possibilities available in STEM fields, and Tynker’s Barbie programming experience is a valuable tool to introduce kids of all ages to these concepts while building their coding skills.”