LEGO VS. UNIVERSAL DESIGN: Gender-specific toys are the wrong model for engineering curricula

摘要

If you've been in a toy store recently, you may have noticed that LEGO has a new line of toys called LEGO Friends. In the early 2000s, LEGO was in trouble: Sales were down, and a succession of money-losing missteps had pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy. It brought in a new CEO and launched a major global research project to understand how children play. One of the findings was that boys preferred toys with strong narratives, while girls were more likely to enjoy role playing. Accordingly, LEGO designed the Friends line for girls: larger figures, a range of settings, and a pink, purple, and teal color scheme. By all accounts, it's been a success.