GRRL Tech to Welcome 520 High School Girls from 30 Rhode Island area High Schools for STEM Career Expo
March 15 2012 - 12:00PM
Business Wire
Presented by Tech Collective, Rhode Island’s industry
association for Information Technology and Bioscience, GRRL Tech
(Girls Reaching Remarkable Levels) is an interactive technology
expo offering female high school students an engaging look into
dynamic and rewarding technology opportunities. Through industry
mentoring and hands-on workshops, GRRL Tech aims to encourage STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning and
offer career insight into STEM careers and industries.
In its 11th installment, this year’s GRRL Tech expo was hosted
by the University of Rhode Island for the first time. The expo
paired faculty and staff with female industry professionals in
facilitating 23 student workshops focused on STEM careers ranging
from bioscience, animal science, and oceanography to engineering,
physics, and computer science. Workshop sessions were held
throughout the URI campus, including in the new Center for
Biotechnology & Life Sciences building.
GRRL Tech’s Keynote Speaker, Donna Sams; Retired Senior Vice
President, PBM Systems for CVS Caremark Corp., delivered the
opening keynote address, discussing the challenges and
opportunities that resulted in the career pathway that she paved
for herself. She encouraged students to follow their interests,
have confidence in themselves, and not be deterred by
challenges.
“STEM education is an increasing concern for both our students
and our workforce,” said Kathie Shields, executive director of Tech
Collective. “Not only do we want to inspire girls to be excited
about science, technology, engineering and math careers, we want to
insure that they obtain the basic logic and knowledge of learning
behind these subjects as they all graduate into a knowledge-based
economy where employers are looking for a new type of
skilled-worker. We have seen the statistics that say women do not
equally represent the STEM career fields, yet at the same time
these are the jobs that are growing.”
U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics
Administration’s Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation reports;
Women in STEM education and careers still presents a gender gap
despite the fact that women fill close to half of all jobs in the
US. In turn, they hold less than 25% of STEM jobs. Additionally,
women have obtained a disproportionately low share of STEM related
undergraduate degrees, particularly in engineering. There are many
possible factors contributing to the discrepancy of women and men
in STEM jobs, including: a lack of female role models, gender
stereotyping, and less family-friendly flexibility in the STEM
fields. The good news—women with STEM jobs earned 33 percent more
than comparable women in non-STEM jobs—considerably higher than the
STEM premium for men. As a result, the gender wage gap is smaller
in STEM jobs than in non-STEM jobs.
After the opening remarks and keynote speaker, students attended
2 45-minute workshops that are facilitated by URI’s faculty and
female professionals working in STEM career fields. Workshops at
this year’s expo included; Chemistry—batteries and how they will
power our future cars; Computer Science—digital forensics and
solving cybercrimes; Engineering—students will learn what LED is
and build their own flashlight; Phycology—how phycology is used
with technology to influence decisions and behaviors; Biotechnology
and Animal Health—students will visit URI’s Peckham Farm and work
with lambs, Oceanography—the science of hurricanes. Educators and
guidance counselors attended one workshop as well as an educator
session offering resources and information about local programs
related to STEM and career awareness.
GRRL Tech, is part of Tech Collective’s commitment to increasing
awareness and participation in the STEM career fields. Dr. Laura
Beauvais, Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs and Dr. Dean Libutti,
Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at URI, awarded this year’s
scholarships. Four scholarships valued at $4,000 per year for four
years were awarded to Alyssa Friedman of North Providence High
School, Kimberly Geraghty of Johnston Senior High School, Megan
Major of East Providence High School, and Morgan Quinley of North
Smithfield High School.
Scholarship winners were selected by the GRRL Tech Committee for
their exceptional scholarship essays addressing the questions:
“Describe a time when science, technology, engineering or math has
influenced your life and how this has inspired you to pursue a
career in STEM. What ideas do you have for attracting more students
to STEM careers in the future?” Scholarship winners were selected
based on their essay addressing career goals and their vision of
themselves and other students.
Sponsors: GRRL Tech is presented by Tech Collective,
Rhode Island’s Industry Association for Information Technology and
Bioscience. It will be hosted for the first time by the University
of Rhode Island at its Kingston Campus. On behalf of all involved,
we are grateful to GRRL Tech’s 2012 sponsors: CVS Caremark, Amgen,
IBM®, Atrion Networking Corporation, the Governor’s Workforce Board
of Rhode Island, EpiVax, Inc., Ximedica, and Junior Achievement of
Rhode Island.
About Tech Collective:
Tech Collective is Rhode Island’s Information Technology and
Bioscience Industry Association. Uniting industry, government and
academic stakeholders, our mission is to inspire, engage, educate
and employ a high-skill, high-wage Knowledge Economy in Rhode
Island. Since its transition from the Rhode Island Technology
Council (RITEC) in 2004, Tech Collective has received more than $6M
in federal, state and private grant funding to foster industry
collaboration, awareness and development through events and
initiatives including: GRRL Tech, Women in Technology, Bio-Ed,
TECH10 and STEM-based education and training programs for K-16
students as well as incumbent and transitioning workers. For more
information about Tech Collective, please visit
www.tech-collective.org.