MAY 2018 - AudioFile
Dr. Cristal Glangchai, engineer, entrepreneur, and CEO of a tech startup, shares her recommendations for giving young girls the tools to pursue STEM fields and entrepreneurship. Engagingly narrated by Sandy Rustin, this audiobook is full of ideas, activities, and information. Rustin keeps listeners interested by adding depth to text that could conceivably overwhelm the listener. Even while discussing the variety of activities, also available to the listener as a PDF, she adds personality to her performance. Using slight tonal shifts, Rustin audibly reflects the ages of the speakers, who range from girls as young as 5 years old through adults, all recounting their real-world successes and failures. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
04/23/2018
In this impassioned cry for a concerted effort to recruit more girls to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, Glangchai—herself a scientist and entrepreneur—makes a strong case for the urgency of her goal. According to one figure she cites, just 18% of young collegiate women are pursuing computer science degrees, down from 25% in the 1970s and ’80s. Her model for changing this state of affairs is entrepreneurship, which Glangchai teaches at her nonprofit, VentureLab. She lays out what she identifies as the basic skills of entrepreneurship, which include selecting a problem to focus on, brainstorming as many solutions as possible, conducting market research, building a prototype, and pitching to prospective users and inventors. Then she introduces a system for refining and iterating on products and ideas. Peppered throughout are thought-provoking “try this at home” exercises designed to encourage out-of-the-box thinking, such as a task involving Oreos, in which girls create a new cookie product, and “redesign me,” in which a girl is given a common household item and challenged to devise an entirely different use for it. This game-changing guide to empowering young women will inspire them and their parents. (May)
From the Publisher
Deeply informative, warm, and grounded in real-world experience [. . .] VentureGirls is essential reading for anyone who wants to raise girls and young women who realize their strength, engage in the world, and feel empowered to make a positive impact.” — Where Learning Clicks
“If you are a parent, a teacher, or anyone who wants to help establish a more equitable future for today’s children and youth, I absolutely recommend giving VentureGirls a read.” — The Ed Tech Roundup
“This game-changing guide to empowering young women will inspire them and their parents.” — Publishers Weekly
“Glangchai delves into the specifics of what VentureLab seeks to do and provides interesting examples of how it helps participants succeed…. [She] is clearly onto something with VentureLab, and students will benefit from its programs, whatever path they ultimately follow. Creating an “entrepreneurship ecosystem” is certainly something communities should pursue, and a sure pathway is provided here.” — Booklist
The Ed Tech Roundup
If you are a parent, a teacher, or anyone who wants to help establish a more equitable future for today’s children and youth, I absolutely recommend giving VentureGirls a read.
Where Learning Clicks
Deeply informative, warm, and grounded in real-world experience [. . .] VentureGirls is essential reading for anyone who wants to raise girls and young women who realize their strength, engage in the world, and feel empowered to make a positive impact.
Booklist
Glangchai delves into the specifics of what VentureLab seeks to do and provides interesting examples of how it helps participants succeed…. [She] is clearly onto something with VentureLab, and students will benefit from its programs, whatever path they ultimately follow. Creating an “entrepreneurship ecosystem” is certainly something communities should pursue, and a sure pathway is provided here.
Booklist
Glangchai delves into the specifics of what VentureLab seeks to do and provides interesting examples of how it helps participants succeed…. [She] is clearly onto something with VentureLab, and students will benefit from its programs, whatever path they ultimately follow. Creating an “entrepreneurship ecosystem” is certainly something communities should pursue, and a sure pathway is provided here.
MAY 2018 - AudioFile
Dr. Cristal Glangchai, engineer, entrepreneur, and CEO of a tech startup, shares her recommendations for giving young girls the tools to pursue STEM fields and entrepreneurship. Engagingly narrated by Sandy Rustin, this audiobook is full of ideas, activities, and information. Rustin keeps listeners interested by adding depth to text that could conceivably overwhelm the listener. Even while discussing the variety of activities, also available to the listener as a PDF, she adds personality to her performance. Using slight tonal shifts, Rustin audibly reflects the ages of the speakers, who range from girls as young as 5 years old through adults, all recounting their real-world successes and failures. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
