The Women in Science (WiSci) camp aims to close the gender gap through access to education, mentorship opportunities, and leadership training. Girls will participate in hands-on activities to learn about various STEAM topics in a cross-cultural learning environment.
STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Arts & Design Mathematics.
Why focus on STEAM education for girls?
Over the past 15 years, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging girls and women in STEAM education. Unfortunately, girls and women continue to face unique and significant barriers in accessing STEAM education. According to a study conducted in 14 countries, the probability for female students of graduating with a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and Doctor’s degree in science-related field are 18%, 8% and 2% respectively, while the percentages of male students are 37%, 18% and 6%. While women represent 40% of the global labor force, they are often paid lower salaries than men in similar jobs and are concentrated in lower skill, lower wage jobs and industries.
The Girls WiSci camp aligns with the United Nations’ 2015 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve gender equality and empower all girls and women. In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in STEM, and to further achieve gender equality, there needs to be greater opportunities made available to girls and an increase in investments around girls’ STEM education.
2017 | WiSci STEAM Camp | Malawi
The 2017 WiSci Girls STEAM Camp was held for approximately two and a half weeks in Malawi. The camp brought together 98 high school girls from the African continent (Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania and Liberia) and the United States to work together to enhance their STEAM skills, craft their leadership potential, and build camaraderie and networks that will propel them to new opportunities.
2016 | WiSci STEAM Camp | Peru
A 2016 WiSci Girls STEAM camp was held for two weeks in July in Peru and brought together high school girls from Chile, Mexico, Peru and the United States. The camp offered students a new opportunity to demonstrate the real impact of STEAM education on girls. It capitalized on a related workshop for relevant APEC ministers by including a day-long session for the Ministers to interact with and mentor the girls on pursuing a STEAM based academic and career path.
2015 | WiSci STEAM Camp | Rwanda
In 2015, a pilot WiSci Girls STEAM Camp brought together a diverse group of 30 female U.S. high school students for an opportunity to study at the Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology in Rwanda alongside 90 African students from 8 African countries. A dynamic group of WiSci partners, including the U.S. Department of State, AOL Charitable Foundation, Girl Up, Intel Corporation, and Microsoft co-designed the concept and over 200 hours of programming, led classroom training, offered mentorship, provided connections to inspiring mentors and supported travel and logistics for the entire camp.
Read more on Women in Science Steam Camps on girlup.org.
