MISSION STATEMENT We are GoSTEM. We started as an after school tech group for girls and have grown into something much bigger. Our goal is to inspire additional women to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in their education and career. Our club provides students with project-based learning, female engineering student mentors, and while building a sustainable program and community for current and future STEM leaders.
PROJECT NEED Our team began by talking about "what is a gender gap?". So we started looking at infographics and data about women working in STEM fields. We noticed that STEM fields are completely male dominated - 76% of workers in STEM fields are men leaving only 24% female. Of those workers only 0.9% are a minority. We were surprised that less than a quarter of the people working in a STEM fields are women and saddened that so few minority women are attracted to these jobs. We wondered - how could we get the best work out of our engineers if we do not have a diverse group of people sharing their points of view?
Bottom line - STEM fields need more women!
This year our focus will be on clean energy and making sure that our community is involved in bringing awareness and solutions to the issue.
PROCESS We have already started by assembling a top notch team! We have split ourselves into different jobs such as: project manager, social media coordinator, file manager, and photographer! Now we are working on gathering data on clean energy and the need for it in our community. We want to educate our neighbors and teach them what they can do!
OUTCOMES Expected outcomes: Create friendships and bonds on the team! Gain leadership and STEM confidence! Learn about the need for clean energy and teach our community how they can be involved, too!
