Bringing girls and STEM together

The Science Museum of Virginia offers an important (and fun!) opportunity for middle school-aged girls to learn more about careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

September 5, 2013; 7:30 AM • by Valerie Catrow

In 2011, the Department of Commerce’s Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation (PDF) revealed that women only make up 24 percent of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce. This study also found that women with STEM jobs earned 33 percent more than “comparable” women in non-STEM jobs.

If those numbers don’t convince you that we need to encourage and support women and girls in the pursuit of careers in these fields, I don’t know what else will.

Next month, the Science Museum of Virginia will partner with the Society of Women Engineers and DuPont to host the Girls in Science Camp-in, an evening that will give middle school girls the chance to “…join forces with professional female scientists to confront challenges and find solutions to common problems faced by scientists and engineers.” And then they get to spend the night in the Science Museum. An educational experience that’s both encouraging and incredibly cool and Richmond-y? What’s stopping you here?

Girls Science Camp-in will begin at 7:00 PM on Saturday, October 12th and ends at 9:00 AM the following morning. The cost is $10 per person. One adult chaperone is required for every four girls. Pre-registration is required. To make your reservation, call 804-864-1400.

(If medicine is more your daughter’s/niece’s/young friend’s jam, HCA Va is hosting a Girls in Medicine Camp-in the week prior on Friday, October 4th through Saturday, October 5th.)

Photo by: NatureFreak07