LEGO Launches 'Ready for Girls' Campaign for Gender Parity

LEGO, the popular building toy company, announced Sunday that it is launching a "Ready for Girls" campaign after commissioning research from the Geena Davis Institute on gender norms in play.

The campaign "celebrates girls who rebuild the world through creative problem solving."

The researchers surveyed almost 7,000 parents and children between the ages of six and 14 around the world, finding that girls feel increasingly confident to engage in a variety of play and creative activities, but are held back by societal stereotypes as they age. Society must rebuild its perceptions, actions and words, according to the Danish company.

The survey concluded "that girls are ready for the world but society isn't quite ready to support their growth through play," according to a release. LEGO cited some statistics from the research, including the revelation that 74% of boys and 62% of girls believe some activities are meant only for girls and some are meant only for boys. Notably, 82% of girls and 71% of boys believe it's fine for girls to play football and boys to do ballet.

The surveyed adults had different conclusions, and that's where LEGO identified a problem.

Among parents, 85% are more likely to think of scientists and athletes as men than women and 89% were more likely to think of engineers as men than women. Children shared the same impressions, LEGO noted, but are much more likely than their male peers to consider a wider range of professions to be for both men and women.

LEGO Group also surveyed respondents about the toys, finding LEGO is still considered more relevant to boys than to girls. Of those who were surveyed, 76% said they would encourage LEGO play to a son, but only 24% said they would encourage it to a daughter.

"The benefits of creative play such as building confidence, creativity and communication skills are felt by all children and yet we still experience age-old stereotypes that label activities as only being suitable for one specific gender. At the LEGO Group we know we have a role to play in putting this right, and this campaign is one of several initiatives we are putting in place to raise awareness of the issue and ensure we make LEGO play as inclusive as possible. All children should be able to reach their true creative potential," said Julia Goldin, CMO of LEGO Group, in a statement.