New Robotics Engineer Barbie shines light on women in STEM, coding

Mattel has launched a Robotics Engineer Barbie to draw attention to women in STEM. (Photo by Mattel)

Credit: Mattel

Credit: Mattel

Mattel has launched a Robotics Engineer Barbie to draw attention to women in STEM. (Photo by Mattel)

A new Barbie doll released Tuesday is drawing attention to the lack of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

Robotics Engineer Barbie is the latest career for the Mattel brand and aims to get girls interested in STEM.

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The doll line is part of a partnership with Mattel, nonprofit STEM education organization Black Girls Code, and children's educational programming platform Tynker.

Tynker co-founder and CTO Srini Mandyam told ABC News the eight dolls come in different ethnic variations and have careers that range from musician, pastry chef and beekeeper.

The dolls are priced at $13.99 and were created with the help of engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to ensure authenticity, according to Michelle Chidoni, Mattel vice president of global communications.

"For almost 60 years, Barbie has exposed girls to roles where women are underrepresented to show them that they can be anything," Barbie general manager and Senior Vice President Lisa McKnight said in a statement. "By playing with Robotics Engineer Barbie on and offline, we are giving girls a new platform for play in their imaginary world and teaching them important skills for their real world."

Barbie’s partnership with Black Girls Code will involve a grant in support of the organization and gifting dolls at robotics workshops. The brand will also work with Tynker to introduce seven courses throughout the year.