The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) has launched a new project promoting gender equity in science museums.

Working alongside the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP), ASTC has launched IF/THEN, an idea built on the mantra "if we support a woman in STEM, then she can change the world."

Part of a national initiative to advance women in STEM subjects by "empowering innovators and inspiring the next generation of female pioneers", in the coming weeks, the ASTC/NGCP coalition will introduce a number of resources and opportunities to target its goal.

This will first include the rollout of a Gender Representation Toolkit, which will be used to help science centres collect data on their visual representation of gender. Using this resource, institutions can identify improvement targets and better determine the specific resources needed for growth in these areas.

After using the Toolkit, ASTC's members will be eligible to apply for IF/THEN grants, with funding used to advance a project that addresses gender equity in their museum, including through exhibits, programme materials, signage, websites, promotional materials, and other content. There will be two allocated funding rounds, with the first to open in March.

NGCP is also developing a digital library of free photos and videos featuring women in STEM, which ASTC members can use to increase their representation of women.

"This first-of-its-kind coalition emphasises that STEM is everywhere, essential to the success of all fields from entertainment to business, and that there is no better time to highlight positive and successful female professional role models to activate a culture shift among young girls and their potential of careers in STEM," said an ASTC statement.

"ASTC and NGCP are working with IF/THEN to increase the representation of women in STEM fields, make positive representations of women available to informal STEM learning organisations, and inspire and engage young women to pursue STEM courses and careers."

A group of 125 ambassadors, made up of some of the top female innovators working within the sector, attended a three-day summit in October, where they received training in communication, storytelling, and social media, as well as individualised coaching on how to tell a compelling personal story. During the summit, each of the ambassadors was also professionally photographed and filmed so that their images and stories can be made available to educators and non-profits through the IF/THEN Collection.

In the US, IF/THEN has also launched a Saturday morning television show on CBS: Mission Unstoppable. Hosted by Miranda Cosgrove and targetting teenage girls, the show was created by an all-female leadership team and highlights women working in STEM.