Communications of the ACM
Local, National Efforts Aim to Draw Girls Into STEM Fields
Helen Gao, 12, (left) and her high school mentors, Morgan Herrington (center) and Hayley Gower (right) watch a 3-D printer make a simple plastic figurine at a science camp at Sacajawea Middle School.
Credit: The Spokesman-Review
Educators and community leaders in Spokane, WA, and across the United States, are working to encourage girls to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Washington has one of the U.S.'s fastest growing STEM workforces and Grant Forsyth, chief economist with Avista Corp., says failing to engage women in STEM fields is "leaving a lot of human capital on the table." The Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho are working to kindle interest in STEM among girls from an early age by making use of a space where they can be exposed to science in a fun way without boys to compete against. The program proceeds up into scouts' teens and includes access to STEM mentors.
Spokane Public Schools also seeks to install early interest in STEM and breakdown perceptions that such subjects are only for boys. The schools host STEM summer camps led by female high school and college students who act as role models for the younger girls.
At the college level, Gonzaga University professor Joanne Smieja is leading a national effort supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation to help female STEM professors at U.S. colleges and universities to advance and secure their careers so they can act as role models for undergraduate students.
From The Spokesman-Review
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