Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert Announced as a ‘Barbie Role Model’ to encourage girls into STEM careers

“My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” – Creator Ruth Handler.

Barbie has been a lightning rod for conversation since its creation in 1959, and the brand has been on a journey since 2015 to connect meaningfully with parents by empowering the limitless potential in every girl, and to better represent Ruth Handlers original vision for the doll. We are always looking for different ways to bring this mission to life, and our Dream Gap mission articulated through the honouring of Role Models allows us to demonstrate the purpose of the brand. Honouring Prof Sarah Gilbert as part of this global campaign of recognising health workers during the COVID pandemic was a landmark moment for the brand. The Barbie brand was discussed extensively in the UK media, challenging expectations of this iconic brand and igniting an unprecedented amount of column inches.