Throughout Women’s History Month, there have been a variety of stories about amazing women doing remarkable things. Stories abound of women achieving remarkable scientific breakthroughs and excelling in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Unfortunately, however, very few women actually pursue careers in these high-demand fields. For young girls interested in science and math, it can be difficult to see that they can turn their passions into careers if they don’t see themselves represented in those fields.
DTE Laboratories (DELAB), in partnership with the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD), are changing those perceptions. Earlier this month, they brought together approximately 30 Detroit area sixth & seventh grade female students from the Girls in Engineering Academy (GEA) to inspire and demonstrate that STEM careers are obtainable for anyone with the curiosity and passion to pursue one.
“We’ve been doing this program for about five years now,” said Biljana Pecov, manager, Field & Lab Operations, ESO. “Skill-based volunteerism allows you to connect with others and when you can close gaps like gender, it’s all the more rewarding.”
The eight-hour session allowed the girls to learn about our company, types of engineering jobs available, and basic science through hands-on experiments using common household products.
“The visit by DTE had a powerful impact on these middle school girls,” said Dr. Gerald Thompkins, program director, GEA, ESD. “This learning experience has piqued their interest and curiosity to seriously consider an engineering program once they graduate from high school in a few years. If we are going to ameliorate the gender gap in STEM education and within engineering in particular, these types of programs are going to become increasingly critical for young girls. They need to see female engineers and they need to see female engineers who look like them so that they can aspire to become the next generation of the “Hidden Figures of Engineering.”
“I would like to give a huge thank you to everyone who worked on the program: Sarah Crysler, Brooke Thanasiu, Alpana Bajpayee, Inderpal Deol, Michael Howart, Tareem Mohammed, Eric Bernreuter, Tiffany H Kim, Jacob Steward, Sue Littles, April Stephens, David Reaves, Christopher Coffin, Ben Felton, Robert Richard, Tyler Norfleet, Nick Abraham, and Renee McClelland who worked hard to ensure the experiments and all the other work was done so that we could deliver a high-quality program,” Biljana said.
To hear more from our engineers who coordinated the event and reactions from the girls themselves, check out this video: