Closing The STEM Gender Gap
On February 24, Women United brought together a panel of community members to discuss their perspectives on how we, as a community, can help expose girls to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and encourage those who are interested to follow their hearts and minds.
Moderator:
Adrian Felts, Operatations Manager, Battelle; Director, Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair
Panelists:
Joan Vienvenue, PhD, Director, Applied Research Institute, University of Virginia
Mary Stelow, Charlottesville High School Junior; Robotics Innovator; Member, Best All-round Club of Nerds (BACON)
Paula White, Gifted Resource Teacher, Albemarle County Public Schools; Founder, Girls’ Geek Day Program
The event began with a video introduction of the “Like a Girl” campaign ad and excerpts from the WTJU Radio interview with panelist and Girls Geek Day Founder, Paula White, followed by an introduction to our topic and Panelists by Moderator, Adrian Felts.
Panelists, who represented three very different aspects of involvement in STEM, were each granted a few minutes to introduce themselves to the audience, giving a brief overview on their own journey as a female involved in STEM fields. Following introductions the audience was given a chance to ask questions to our panelists and exciting, information-rich discussion quickly ensued.
If you are interested in learning more about STEM opportunities in our community and on-line download the STEM Resource sheet from the event HERE or contact panelist Paula White at pwhite@k12albemarle.org or Tech-Girls.com Founder, Kim Wilkens at kim@tech-girls.org