On March 12 this year at Simpson College, 400+ middle school girls will travel from schools in 9 North State counties to learn about growing high-paying careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at the “Women in STEM” Conference – a bi-annual event designed to inspire middle school girls to become the next generation in these careers.
The conference is a collaborative effort, co-sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Redding, CA Branch; Simpson University; the Shasta County Office of Education and Expanding Your Horizons. Girls in 6th, 7th and 8 th grades select and attend four interactive, hands-on sessions, presented by more than 20 professional women, designed to engage, empower and inspire them in STEM careers. College Options is there to provide information on colleges and financial aid. Information on registering for the conference may be found on AAUW Redding’s website at www.aauwredding.org. The sooner the better because sessions fill up quickly, and registration is limited to 400 girls!
If you would like to help support the conference next month – we have established a Go Fund Me Page at https://www.gofundme.com/mfp9sazq. Because of the growing popularity of this conference, AAUW Redding would like to be able to provide more enriching activities to support the event, and be able to accommodate more North State girls. ANY donation, small or large, will be helpful and greatly appreciated. You can list your name or be anonymous, and can share any comments you might have on the topic/event.
Background on the Nationwide Effort to Prepare Girls for Future Jobs in STEM Careers Our nation is committed to a globally competitive STEM workforce to fulfill projected job and economic growth in these areas. This requires a sustained effort focused on students and educators in STEM disciplines. According to the US Dept. of Commerce, STEM related jobs are growing at 17 percent and in California alone there is a projected need for a STEM workforce in 2018 of approximately 1.14 million. During the next 10 years, over 70% of the predicted jobs in California will be related to STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and/or Math (Shasta County Office of Education – North State STEM, 2009; www.shastacoe.org/page.cfm?p=7057). When women are not well represented in these fields, they lose out on these high-quality job opportunities. (AAUW (national organization – Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing, 2015; www.aauw.org/files/2015/04/Solving-the-Equation-executive-summary-nsa.pdf).
