This is the third post I've written to share the results of my survey on the older girl program in Girl Scouts. You can read general impressions here, and opinions about Cadette badges here.
I asked respondents to review the list of awards available to Seniors and to give them one of these ratings:
- Haven't done it and don't want to
- Did it, liked it
- Did it, meh
- Did it, didn't like it
- Haven't done it but want to
- Didn't know it existed.
I had 248 overall responses to the survey and each badge got about 90 votes, so evidently most people who responded had not led Seniors or been one under the current program.
I went through the responses looking for outliers---those badges which got responses that stood out from the others.
The Roads Less Chosen
Badges which got more than 40 votes on "Haven't done it, and don't want to" were Business Start-up, Buying Power, Coding Basics, Digital Game Design, App Development, Cookie Entrepreneur Family Pin, Cross Training, Customer Loyalty, all 3 Cybersecurity badges, Digital Leadership, Think Like a Programmer, Think Like an Engineer, My Cookie Network, My Portfolio,all 3 robotics badges, Website Designer, My Promise My Faith, and Religious Awards.
The Popular Ones
Those that 40 or more said they did and liked were Adventure Camper, Locavore, Outdoor Art Expert, Paddling, Senior First Aid, and Service to Community.
Those that 35 people or more said they hadn't done but wanted to do were Adventure Camper, Adventurer, Car Care, Eco Explorer, Gold Award, Room Makeover, First Aid, Girl Scout Way, Snow or Climbing Adventure, Trail Adventure, Sky, Textile Artist, Traveler, Voice for Animals, Women's Health, Service to Girl Scouting, and Safety Pin.
Negative Votes
Those that stood out as having been done, and not liked were GIRLtopia (7), Mission Sisterhood (5), Novelist (4), Outdoor Art Expert (4), and Sow What (7).
On the flip side, several awards had no "dislike" votes. Those badges, and the combined number of "liked" and "meh" votes are: Adventure Camper (46), Adventurer (38), Collage Artist (48), Cybersecurity Basics (11), Cybersecurity Investigator (11), EcoExplorer (27), Think Like a Citizen Scientist (19), My Cookie Network (11), and Religious Award (8).
Those that got the most votes for "meh" were Behind the Ballot 17/39 votes, Business Etiquette (16/32), Collage Artist (11/48), Cookie Boss (14/28), Cookie Entrepreneur (13/29), Customer Loyalty (20/32), Democracy (11/31), Financing My Future (18/38), GIRLtopia (16/40), Mission Sisterhood (15/51), Room Makeover (12/48), Girl Scout Way (11/45), and Sow What (14/48).
What Did the Girls Say
I encouraged people to send this link to their C/S/A girls. I wondered if the girl responses would stand out from the adults, but they really didn't.
Girl 1:
She is a member of a multi-level C/S/A troop and appears to be an Ambassador. Senior badges she did and liked were Adventure Camper, Adventurer, Buying Power, Car Care, Collage Artist, Cookie Entrepreneur, Democracy, EcoExplorer, Financing My Future, Game Visionary, Gold Award, Mission Sisterhood, Outdoor Journey, Think Like a Citizen Scientist, Locavore, Outdoor Art Expert, Paddling, Senior First Aid, Snow or Climbing Adventure, Sky, Textile Artist, Traveler, Troupe Performer, Women's Health, Service to Girl Scouting, Service to Community, Safety Pin and My Promise My Faith.
Those she found "meh" were Behind the Ballot, Business Etiquette, Cookie Boss, Customer Loyalty, and Digital Leadership, The only one she didn't like was GIRLtopia,
Girl 2:
Girl 2 is a member of a multi-level troop that includes younger girls and she said their troop was a permanent troop with girls joining and leaving all the time. Girl2 has earned some Ambassador awards so I assume that's her current level. Senior badges she liked were Adventure Camper, EcoExplorer, Outdoor Journey, and Sow What. There were none that she disliked or even found meh.
Girl 3:
Girl 3 is in a multi-level troop that is older girls only. It is a permanent troop and she stays in it because that's what she does with that group of friends. She appears to be a Senior. There were no Senior badges that she said had done and like. Those she rated as "meh"were Girltopia, Mission Sisterhood and the Outdoor Journey., Locavore, Room Makeover, Textile Artist and Sow What. Those she did not like were Sky, Outdoor Art, Novelist, and Business Etiquette,
Girl 4:
Girl 4 is in a single level troop that started in Juniors or later. She appears to be a Senior and sticks with Girl Scouts because the leader made it fun and it helps with college. Most of her troop earned the Bronze Award and at least one troop member has earn the Silver.
The badges she liked were Adventurer, Behind the Ballot, Collage Artist, Cross Training, Democracy, Financing My Future, Mission Sisterhood, Outdoor Journey, Locavore, Room Makeover, Science of Style, First Aid, Snow or Climbing Adventure, Trail Adventure, Troupe Performer, Service to Community, Safety Pin, My Promise My Faith, Religious Award, and Sow What.
Those she listed as "meh" were Girl Scout Way, My Portfolio, My Cookie Network, Customer Loyalty, Cookie Entrepreneur, Cookie Boss, and Buying Power. There were none that she didn't like.
Girl 5:
Girl 5 is a Senior who is part of a multi-level troop that includes younger girls. Her troop started in Daisies or Brownies but has taken in a lot of girls since then. She stays in Girl Scouts for the outdoor activities. Badges she liked were Adventure Camper, Adventurer, Behind the Ballot, Collage Artist, Cookie Entrepreneur, Customer Loyalty, Democracy, Eco Explorer, Think Like a Citizen Scientist, Novelist, Outdoor Art Expert, Paddling, Science of Style, First Aid, Girl Scout Way, Sky, Space Science Expert, Textile Artist, Traveler, Women's Health and Service to Girl Scouting.
Those she rated as "meh" were Digital Leadership, Game Visionary, Gold Award, Outdoor Journey, Locavore, My Cookie Network, My Portfolio, Snow or Climbing Adventure, Snow Adventure, Troupe Performer, Truth Seeker, Voice for Animals, Service to Community and Safety Pin.
There were none that she disliked.
Girl 6:
It looks like Girl 6 is an Ambassador. She is in a multi-level troop of older girls who have been together since Daisies or Brownies and have taken in few if any girls since then. Senior awards she liked were Mission Sisterhood, Traveler, Service to Community, and Service to Girl Scouts. Those she rated as "meh" were Senior First Aid, Outdoor Journey, Adventurer, and Adventure Camper. There were none that she had done and disliked.
My Conclusions and Comments
I am well aware that my surveys do not attract a random sampling of either leaders or girls. Nevertheless I was surprised at how many badges these girls had earned as much of what I hear is that older girls aren't into badges.
I'd really like to see figures from GSUSA about which awards are the most popular, based on sales.
I wonder how much of the unpopularity of the STEM programming is because leaders aren't comfortable with it, and how much is because girls don't like it---and for troops that did it, how closely to GSUSA's plans did they stick?
Thanks to all who participated.
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