Ask a group of children to draw a scientist. Some will draw a man in a white coat. Others may draw someone standing in a laboratory, surrounded by test tubes, computers or machines. But ask the same children to imagine themselves as that scientist, and the answers may be very different. This difference becomes particularly visible as girls grow older.
Research based on the ‘Draw-a-Scientist’ test found that while about 70 percent of six-year-old girls drew female scientists, by the age of 16 only around 25 percent did so. Something happens during those years. Girls begin to absorb the message that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are somehow more naturally associated with boys.
No child is born knowing that mathematics belongs to boys or that engineering is not for girls. These ideas are learned from parents, teachers, friends, television, social media, and sometimes from the quiet expectations of society. In Bangladesh, however, there is another question we need to ask before we talk about encouraging girls to become scientists and engineers: Are we giving our girls a childhood safe enough to dream?
This question has become particularly painful in Bangladesh. Over the past year, we have repeatedly seen reports of children, many of them girls, being raped, sexually abused and killed. In May 2026, UNICEF Bangladesh expressed deep concern about recent cases of violence against children and called for stronger safeguarding and accountability in schools, madrasas, workplaces, communities and care settings. According to monitoring by Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), between January and May 20, 2026, at least 118 children were reported to have been raped and 46 subjected to attempted rape. At least 17 children were reportedly killed in incidents involving rape or attempted rape. Behind each number is a child.
The world that today’s children will enter will be very different from the world their parents entered. Artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, digital finance, biotechnology and data science are changing the way people work. Some jobs will disappear, others will change, and entirely new professions will emerge. If girls are not allowed to develop scientific and technological skills, they may find themselves concentrated in parts of the labour market that are more vulnerable to automation or offer fewer opportunities for advancement. This is not simply a question of women’s employment. It is a question of whether Bangladesh will make full use of half of its human potential.
UNESCO reports that women account for only about 35 percent of STEM graduates globally. In South Asia, the gender gap remains significant. A recent UNESCO regional study on artificial intelligence and gender reported that women make up only around one in five STEM graduates in Bangladesh. These numbers should concern us – not because every girl needs to become an engineer, but because every girl should have the freedom to decide whether she wants to.
UNICEF has highlighted the story of a 13-year-old Bangladeshi girl, Ayesha, who was learning practical skills such as repairing electrical switches, fans, LED lights and toy cars and dreaming of becoming an engineer. Her father encouraged both his sons and daughters to develop practical skills. That is the kind of everyday encouragement that can change a child’s idea of what is possible. Girls need to see women scientists, engineers, programmers, doctors, researchers and technology entrepreneurs – not as exceptional figures appearing once a year in a newspaper, but as ordinary people doing extraordinary work. A girl should be able to look at a woman working in a laboratory and think, “I could do that too.”
There is little value in building modern laboratories if children do not feel safe using them. This is where the recent cases of child abuse should make us uncomfortable – and make us act. Every school, madrasa, college, training Centre and organisation working with children needs a functioning safeguarding system. Children should know where they can report abuse. Adults working with them should understand professional boundaries and codes of conduct. Complaints should be taken seriously and handled in a child-sensitive manner. Most importantly, safeguarding should not exist only on paper. A policy framed on a wall cannot protect a child by itself. People do.
Government policies and school programmes are important, but the first classroom is the home. Parents need to examine the expectations they place on sons and daughters. Children need space to discover who they are. Our daughters should be allowed to be curious, adventurous, analytical and ambitious. They should also be allowed to fail. A girl who breaks a toy while trying to understand how it works has not necessarily broken something. She may have learned how something works.
As technology becomes increasingly important, girls also need to be safe online. Cyberbullying, online harassment, unwanted contact, privacy violations and misuse of children’s images can discourage girls from participating in digital spaces. Digital literacy must therefore include more than learning how to operate a computer. Children should learn about privacy, consent, online behavior, cyber safety and where to seek help. The same principle applies online as it does offline: a child cannot learn freely where she feels unsafe.
When we discuss girls’ education, we often talk about school enrolment and examination results. Those things matter. But education is much bigger than a certificate. It is the confidence to raise a hand in class. It is the freedom to ask a difficult question. It is an opportunity to do something with your own hands. It is knowing that your gender does not determine the limits of your future. For Bangladesh, investing in girls’ STEM education should therefore mean investing in the whole ecosystem around the child. Schools need better science and technology opportunities. Teachers need training. Parents need awareness. Female role models need to be visible. Universities and companies can create mentoring and internship opportunities. And, above all, institutions responsible for children must take safeguarding seriously.
The private sector can contribute as well. Corporate social responsibility programmes should not stop at donating computers or sponsoring a science competition. Companies can provide mentorship, internships, scholarships, laboratories and opportunities for girls to experience real workplaces.
That is why child protection and STEM education belong in the same conversation. Protect the child. Encourage the learner. Challenge the stereotype. Open the laboratory door. Give her a mentor. And then step back and let her discover what she can do. The girl we keep safe today may be the scientist, engineer, programmer or innovator who helps build Bangladesh tomorrow.
If we want girls to help design the future, we must first give them a childhood in which they are safe enough to imagine it.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author
The writer is the Protection Specialist & CEO, Favor Consultancy
