2011 marks the 19th year that NC State University has been bringing middle schools girls to campus to “expand the horizons” of their career options.
The Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Network started in 1974 as an informal group of women scientists and educators in the San Francisco Bay Area who were concerned about low female participation in math courses. By 1980 grant funding allowed them to develop the EYH conference and grow the number of locations offering the program.
North Carolina joined the EYH network in 1992 and has been going strong ever since. Recent EYH conferences, coordinated by The Science House, have hosted over 700 girls from all across the state. Each conference includes hands-on workshops by local women scientists, engineers and mathematicians on topics such as plant pathogens, violent weather, genetics, aerodynamics, working with wildlife and much more. Representatives from many colleges at NCSU, other nearby colleges and universities, and women from local industry including SAS, EPA, NIEHS, Glaxo, RTI International, Credit Suisse and Cisco Systems and more expose the girls to the variety of career opportunities available to them in science and mathematics related fields.
Why a conference just for girls?
In 1970, women earned less than 1% of engineering undergraduate degrees. By 2005, there were 70,579 women enrolled in undergraduate engineering programs, representing 17.2% of total engineering enrollment. That trend has been consistent in all fields of science and engineering except computer science. In computer science, women’s participation has decreased since the early 1970s. The work of groups like the national Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) organization (working since 1976) and the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP, since 2003) have clearly made an impact but there is still a long way to go. While women constitute 46% of the U.S. workforce, they hold only 27% of science and engineering jobs overall and 12% of engineering jobs.
If the U.S. is to maintain its economic leadership and compete in the new global economy, the nation must prepare today's K–12 students better to be tomorrow's productive workers and citizens. Changing workforce requirements mean that new workers will need ever more sophisticated skills in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. Scientific and engineering occupations are expected to continue to grow more rapidly than occupations in general. (Report by the National Science Board, Feb 2006: NSB 06-02)
Research supports the EYH approach. The National Council for Research on Women (in “Balancing The Equation: Where are Women & Girls in Science, Engineering & Technology?” 2001) recommends that girls be given appropriate opportunities to learn by engaging students at an early age with opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. One effective way to do that is to expand incentives for students to study in the STEM fields and enter STEM careers, especially students from underrepresented groups. In addition, it is important to involve parents, non-classroom-based science educators (museums, zoos, parks and recreation centers), and community and business organizations in fostering and enhancing experiences in K–12 mathematics and science. We also know that girls are more successful in math and science programs that incorporate cooperative, hands-on approach than in programs that stress competition and individual learning. Girl-and-woman-only conferences can provide in ways that are uniquely appropriate to the needs of girls.
Expanding the Reach
The Science House recently received a seed grant from NC State University to broaden the impact of our annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference. This project, called Expanding the Reach, will address the needs outlined above by providing support to partner organizations in areas across the state so they can offer the EYH experience to girls locally and increase participation of girls who might not otherwise be able to attend. If you are interested in partnering with The Science House on an EYH program, more information will be available in Fall 2011.
Learn more about this year's Expanding Your Horizons Conference on May 7, 2011.
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