Two Organizations Hope To Get More Girls Interested In STEM Careers
by Melony Roy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The push for more young women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) continues locally with two events this month.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the Million Women Mentors is holding a statewide recruitment breakfast Friday at Montgomery County Community College.
"We're going to have a quick presentation, question and answers, eat, meet and greet, and make a pledge that you can as a professional, or someone who wants to be supportive, commit 20 hours this year to mentoring a young women in STEM," explained Dr. Jamie Bracey, co-chair of the Pennsylvania Chapter.
The organization's goals are to increase the number of girls planning to pursue STEM careers and the percentage of women staying and advancing in STEM careers.
"We're hoping the Million Women Mentors will be this organizing force to identify legislation that supports investment in STEM talent development that's targeted toward underrepresented groups, which includes women of all backgrounds and ethnicity, and that we are very specific about tying talent development to both high school and post-graduation success, so that we keep people in the Commonwealth of Philadelphia that have amazing talent," said Bracey.
On January 28th Villanova is holding its "V-U Women in Tech Conference."
The lineup features about 20 speakers, including the founder of startup "Roar for good," Yasmin Mustafa.
Both events are free and open to the public.