By Audrey Lord, SWENexter
I’ve always loved hearing about other people’s careers in STEM; I can soak up advice and get ideas for what does or does not interest me. When I meet someone in a STEM field, I try to meet with them over coffee to hear anything they have to share.
My Women in Science and Engineering club invites speakers to share their stories and explain “how you got where you are today.” These have been invaluable experiences and have helped to give direction to my passion for science.
I came to the realization that many girls do not have access to strong women in STEM as mentors, or don’t have the confidence to approach them. With this in mind, I created a website, entitled Empower Her: Showing Strength Though Stories, to increase visibility of women in STEM as inspiration for middle school girls. As a senior in high school, this is part of my Girl Scout Gold Award.
Not knowing how to code when I began, I did a lot of Googling and went through a lot of trial and error to program this site. Empower Her includes interviews with mentors in my life, profiles of women instrumental in history, advice from current leaders, and countless other activities and links. I hope that the interviews I have compiled will guide girls through all of the decision making that comes with high school as they explore what they can do in the future.
In addition, the “For Leaders” page details a lesson plan to celebrate STEM women in history, perfect for clubs and classrooms. This lesson, which has been implemented in my town’s 6th grade, exposes girls to barriers faced by women and allows them to research women who have overcome these barriers to make great strides in their fields. Find all of these resources at goo.gl/CA4EZN
Source: http://alltogether.swe.org/2018/04/swenexter-creates-new-website-empower/