OUR MISSION
The purpose of this organization is to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) among girls from elementary to high school. We intend to foster an environment of support and inclusion through mentorship, as well as STEM activities and events led by UW students involved in those fields.
As a response to the disparity between female to male ratios in STEM fields, the STEMinist Club at the University of Washington will seek to provide an inclusive, empowering environment, in which members will not only strengthen their skills to be better prepared in these fields, but they will also learn about female empowerment in the workplace.
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
by Trish Hoy
In elementary school, boys and girls take mathematics and science standardized tests, and according to statistics, they perform equally well in these subjects.
By the time these girls go to college, only 35% of them will pursue STEM degrees.
After college, about 24% of these women will work in STEM positions in the United States .
Before attending the University of Washington, I was a part of the majority of girls who felt deterred from pursuing a career in STEM. Despite being placed in Honors math and science courses throughout high school, these subjects intimidated me. I found myself feeling discouraged as I often stayed after class or met with tutors while my classmates seemed to grasp the concepts right off the bat. Because I received extra help, I never felt “good enough” to pursue STEM. As my classes became more advanced, I also noticed more patterns that discouraged me:
Fewer girls in higher-level math / science classes.
Only a handful of girls wanted to pursue a STEM major in college.
Bad representation in media. The many inspiring women making strides in STEM take a backseat to the negative stereotypes of STEM women portrayed in shows and movies that I watched. (In Mean Girls, Cady Heron actually fails Calculus to get a guy’s attention—and she seemed unable to be popular and good at math.)
Lack of STEM role models promoted to me: I did not know much about the amazing female CEOs that I look up to now, like Reshma Saujani who started Girls Who Code, Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox, and many others like them.
My preconceived notions about women in STEM and my own potential changed with a course at UW called Gender and Information Technology, in which I learned about all the institutional reasons why I felt discouraged from pursuing STEM. Not only did I realize the magnitude of this problem–that a majority of young girls in America are feeling the same way as I did, but I also discovered something great: a strong passion for technology. I began learning about technology trends and teaching myself introductory coding in my free time. After a few great experiences interning, I was sold on the idea that I could succeed in this field that I was passionate about and made some big changes in my plans.
As I’m now immersing myself in the technology field, I realize that there is no better time to encourage more girls and women to pursue STEM than now. I started the STEMinist Club, because I want to help address the problem of gender disparity in STEM fields at its roots. I can’t go back to encourage my younger self to believe in my own potential, but there are so many elementary school girls who are starting to doubt that STEM is for them. There are so many middle school girls who are convinced that STEM isn’t cool or something that they can do.
And that’s where the STEMinist Club comes in: We have the ability to show these girls and so many other underrepresented groups otherwise through mentorship programs in which younger students are mentored by UW female STEM students! This club will also provide a community of support for women pursuing STEM majors and soon entering these fields, as well as for all UW students who are interested in STEM.
My purpose for this club is not to turn every young student we mentor into a STEM major, but instead to show them that STEM is a possibility for them and to develop their confidence in their own abilities in any field they choose.