Lego to Introduce Female Scientists for Limited Edition Kit
A limited edition Lego box set called “Research Institute” will include three female scientists, Los Angeles Times reports. Its various scenarios allow people to position an astronomer looking into her telescope, a paleontologist examining a dinosaur skeleton and a chemist experimenting in her lab. The set was designed by a geochemist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Ellen Koojiman.
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Initially, Koojiman proposed 12 different tableaus that all featured women holding professions like judge, falconer and a robotics engineer. “As a female scientist, I had noticed two things about the available Lego sets: a skewed male–female mini-figure ratio and a rather stereotypical representation of the available female figures,” Kooijman wrote in a blog post. “It seemed logical that I would suggest a small set of female mini-figures in interesting professions to make our Lego city communities more diverse.”
Koojiman said that she had been playing with Legos for the past 10 years but waited until 2012 to share her designs on the Lego Ideas website, where fans can pitch the toymakers on prospective kits. When a proposal reaches 10,000 votes, Lego will consider producing it; it took about a year for Koojiman’s idea to reach the threshold but it got the green light this week.
A statement from Lego said the company was excited to begin making the set and hopes to release it this August. “This awesome model is an inspiring set that offers a lot for kids as well as adults,” the statement reads.
The scientist has already begun work campaigning on another set, based on the TV series The Big Bang Theory. That proposal has also reached 10,000 votes and is currently in Lego’s review phase.