The Exhibit Designs for Girls’ Engagement (EDGE) project, a three-year Exploratorium-run, NSF-funded research study, aimed to identify the most important design attributes for engaging girls at STEM exhibits. 

We identified nearly 100 exhibit design attributes that had the potential to better engage girls. To test those 100 attributes and their relationship to girls’ engagement, we studied more than 300 physics, engineering, math, and perception exhibits at the Exploratorium, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Arizona Science Center. The purpose of the EDGE research was to winnow that list of 100 potential design attributes to those most important for engaging girls. The result: nine design attributes strongly and positively related to girls' engagement across the three institutions. 

EDGE Design Guide, Webinar, Articles, and Coding Scheme

• Exhibit Design for Girls' Engagement: A Guide to the EDGE Design Attributes (PDF)
• EDGE: A Guide for Practicing Gender Equity in Exhibit Design (PDF)
• EDGE ASTC Webinar (Video)
• Creating a Female-Responsive Design Framework for STEM Exhibits (PDF)
• Exhibit Designs for Girls' Engagement (EDGE) (PDF)
• Straight from the Girls: The Importance of Incorporating the EDGE Design Attributes at Exhibits (PDF)
• Exhibit Designs for Girls' Engagement (EDGE) Exhibit Coding Scheme and Protocol (PDF)