KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As high school and middle school girls filled a conference space, Metropolitan Community College President Dr. Jackie Gill shouted, “Do not be afraid of science!”
Her message to the 300 students was to embrace career opportunities in the STEM field. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows men dominate jobs in those categories. Dr. Gill said that gives young women the impression they can’t succeed in a STEM career.
At Wednesday’s event, women working in those fields showed off their careers with presentations and hands-on workshops.
“You see women doing it and they are slaying the game,” Beatrice Truly, a student a Westridge Middle School, said. “They're doing perfectly and I wish we had more women doing that.”
Women who pursue a STEM-related career can earn more money. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said most Americans working a STEM job earn more than the national average.
The Mo-Kan chapter of Women of AT&T sponsored the event through the company’s Aspire education initiative. The multimedia technology and entertainment company anticipates it will need more computer programmers, software engineers and data analysts as it expands.
AT&T believes turning young ladies' attention to STEM options at an early age gives the girls a advantage in the field.
The BLS predicts the number of STEM jobs will grow. It increased more than 10 percentfrom 2009 to 2015. In 2015, the United States had roughly 8.6 million jobs in the STEM field.
“Programs like this - where they can come and feel, and touch, and see, and smell the things of the future - is how you get them to see themselves in those jobs,” Dr. Gill said.
Today’s event was labeled GIFT Day. GIFT stands for “girls in future technologies.”
