The legendary toy that is Barbie turned 50 last year, and with it UK sales slumped by 42% as old favourites such as Lego and Sylvanian Families stormed ahead in the popularity stakes. In an attempt to turn things around, parent-company Mattel seem to be reaching out to parents with its new campaign ‘I can be’.

The brand, well known for its forays into the online space, has launched an online voting campaign to decided Barbie’s next career. Hosted on main site Barble.com, the five choices show a somewhat more academic and – dare we say – balanced direction than her past careers (which have included American Idol contestant, babysitter – which came a book entitled How to Lose Weight which advised: “Don’t eat.” – and soda fountain waitress as part of the Coca-Cola series).

The suggested vocations include the likes of environmentalist, computer engineer, and surgeon. They’re obviously more reflective of the issues today’s kids relate to, but Barbie’s main demographic are below 12. Will they even know what these jobs are? Even with the handy descriptors (an architect designs buildings and makes sure that they’re safe, sturdy and ‘cool-looking’, in case you were wondering), these choices are bound to send little girls running to their mothers for an explanation. And by default, this portray the brand as one that encourages women to not only focus on a career, but chose one that’s perceived to be ‘worthwhile’. There’s a whole other conversation to be had about what’s deemed to be a good career choice versus a bad one, but that’s not the point in this instance.

Why fight Barbie’s influence over youth when it can used to encourage girls into maths and science-based roles? One of the main reasons that female web developers are so rare can be traced back to the image of that subject at school. With the Twittersphere fighting their own corners for votes, and tech blogs encouraging readers to vote for computer engineer, we might see a refreshed approach to these areas in the future. If Barbie makes it cool, that can only be a good thing.