Technovation Personal Statement

As we move deeper into the digital world, the importance of STEM education is becoming more and more apparent. Unfortunately, however, the gender ratio continues to be skewed with men dominating - in both classrooms and the working world. Among the challenges women face in entering STEM fields are stigma and a lack of support. Fem4STEM aims to breach these barriers by providing girls and women a platform to showcase their abilities, as well as meet other women who share a passion for STEM. We believe strongly that advancing STEM education requires collaboration between industry, educators, and families. As such, we have partnered with a number of clubs and professors at

To become a finalist, I had to talk about my past technological experiences and answer a series of questions to do with recent advances in computer science. I spent the day at Network Rail's headquarters learning about the different careers that I could achieve. It was fascinating to meet women who came from a variety of backgrounds - one woman had spent ten years as an assembly language programmer before moving on to become a software analyst. This experience of being around so many other young people my age who were interested in computing has only strengthened my love for the subject and my aim to be a part of

I serve as an Ambassador for the Alamo Academies and speak at the New Student Orientation to share with them the bountiful knowledge and opportunities the program gives us with no cost. My efforts in the program and outstanding performance in my summer internship allowed me to achieve an Honorable Mention from the National Center for Women in Information Technology: Aspirations in Computing, this year. Every day I encourage women to join the STEM field because that is the ticket to the future, I avidly look forward to increasing the representation of women and minorities in the male-dominated IT

While attending an engineering conference, I learned of Black Girls Code, Inc. (BGC), a nonprofit whose mission is to introduce young girls to coding and technology. When the San Francisco based organization expanded to Washington, D.C., I stepped forward to volunteer and lead as the Events Coordinator. I collaborated with a Core Team of professionals and led a large group of volunteers to create introductory programming workshops. While there was an overwhelming demand for our programs, the Core Team quickly

As a volunteer mentor, I aid a Year 10 Technology class. Through this scheme I get to convey my practical and theoretical knowledge to a group of students in the class while lessening tasks for the teacher. It is vital that children, and especially girls, develop a curiosity about STEM as early as Key Stage

This program is an after school program that runs three days a week, inviting young girls to come to the science center to learn about STEM in a fun, educational, interactive and empowering way. Girls will be divided into age groups that focus on age appropriate activities where they are mentored by female professionals in the STEM field that will offer inspiration. Some of the issues addressed would touch on female empowerment, building confidence in STEM areas, fighting negative stereotypes about women in the STEM field, different career options including coding, date creation, cyber security, ethical hacking, engineering, math, science, biology and chemistry. Girls will take part in each branch of the STEM field and be exposed to the many things it offers. The science center is seeking to make the program available for girls aged six to eighteen as we believe the earlier the exposure the more confident the girls will be come and the longer the exposure the more invested they will be. The science center has paired with other nonprofits that are working to collect data for studies and reports regarding women in the STEM field. The science center and these organizations will use this program to collect data to

My dream is to contribute my power in this innovation as a female engineer. Even though women are put on the sidelines in some societies, I have never considered myself and other women as such. I have determined my mind to pursue my dreams since the first day I decided to study in science and engineering. Problems brought by stereotypes towards women happened many times in my life, but I never let them stop me pursuing my dreams. In my home country China, back to my first year in high school, I was laughed at by my teachers and classmates when I first told them I wanted to major in mathematics. My high school math teacher kept ignoring me when I had the top one math score in his class, for the reason that “women are not supposed to do better in science than men in this society.” I experienced desperation, but I turned it to my motivation. I spent six months to study all high school courses by myself and skipped two year high school and went to a university in US to study mathematics. The undergraduate study has made me realize I can be more powerful to contribute myself as a female scientist. I believe studying at a university like USC will maximize my value and growth along with the school’s

Gillian Goodman’s article “A Girl Who Codes” attempts to spread awareness of importance of Computer Science among girls. The author condemns the less involvement of women in the growing field of Computer Science and advocates that women should also start coding instead of inclining towards streams that don’t pay well. In the beginning of the article, she introduces Nikita Rau who started ‘XX Hackers’, a high club for girls interested in learning Computer Science. Then, gradually Goodman expresses her dissatisfaction with the performance of women in Computer Science industry. She talks about various factors about this situation and steps that are being taken to improve it. She tries to convince women to join Computer Science industry because of its immense growth potential and promote more initiatives like ‘Girls Who Code’ throughout the country.

My first experience with Girls Inc. was a Summer STEM camp named “Eureka!” The camp was about getting girls interested in science, math, engineering, and technology. Before coming to this camp, I had not given much thought to what colleges I wanted to attend or what area of study I planned to major in. However, by the time I left, I was shocked by the countless options the STEM field has to offer me. This program gave me the opportunity to work hands on in a college setting and learn more about these fields. In addition to “Eureka!”, I joined Girls Inc. Teen Leadership in the 9th grade. In both programs, I could voice my opinions and feel like I’m a safe environment. As a participant in Euerka! And Teen leadership,

number one is they think it's not interesting. Number two, they think they wouldn't be

Huston, Pat. "A Snapshot Of Ohio: Girls Behind The STEM Equality Movement." Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers 90.3 (2015): 14. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 13 May 2016.

Last year I had the opportunity to work as a Tech Trek student counselor and I found the experience to be invaluable, not only as a student but as a woman in STEM. My time working with tech trek actually motivated me to pursue a career in environmental conservation education, because I thoroughly enjoyed working with the girls and being able to motivate them to explore the sciences. I am a strong supporter of having more females in STEM, and have worked to create events on campus which focus on the multitude of opportunities within the STEM field for women. As a female I understand that representation matters, and in many cases can play a big role for young women. As a participant in Tech Trek I can provide these young women with a mentor/

The inequality around the world is making women doubt about what the world demands them to be. Unequal pay had been a topic women have faced all their life. Men as women should have the same opportunity to express their potential differently, but that does not mean women are less advantageous than men. Our community had been in charge to make women feel less forgetting recognize all the essential effect women contribute to this society. In Gaby Galvin’s words, Study: Inclusive Environment Key to Closing STEM Gap, "We're still using science, we're just not doing it in the fields that are the most lucrative and most high status," she said. "But if you can be a doctor, you can be a computer scientist". Everyone should have the choice to follow

In past many generations, men and women had distinct roles. In ancient times, the stereotype of a woman was working as a housewife, taking care of children and doing housekeeping jobs, while man were responsible for hunting or farming. As human civilization goes on, woman are no longer restricted in household routines and have been widely accepted as an indispensable source of labor force in a variety of occupations. However disparity of career preference between male and female are fairly pronounced, particular in computer science. An undeniable fact is that employees of tech companies that are typically related to computer science in Silicon Valley are overwhelming male. 17 percent of Google tech workers are women, according to the diversity data released by Google itself (Diversity at Google, 2014). In 2014, female tech workers make up 15 percent of Facebook’s workforce (Constine, 2014). Also in 2014, Yahoo reports ratio of female technical workers is 15 percent and Twitter reports only 10 percent of technical workforce is female (CNNMoney, 2014). According to an evaluation published in 2014 by Anita Borg Institute for women and technology, average ratio for female workers in bay area is approximate 20 percent (Weise, 2014). We can trace the gender imbalance in workplace back to the shortage of female computer science students in college. It is not a new topic that women are scarce in science and engineering

areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics employers are not getting enough women (Pozniak). High school girls only represent 17 percent of computer science Advance Placement (AP) test takers (O'Shea). The most significant group of minorities who are behind in earning computer technology degrees and working in science and mathematical professions are women. “Historically, women’s low representation in science and engineering was said to be due in large part of their lack of ability, interest, or both” (Horning 30). However, this is no longer a true fact according to Ward. Some suggestions to increasing the amount of women in sciences include introducing already present women faculty as mentors. Over the last three decades,