Expanding Your Horizons: A Stem Career Conference For 7 Th And 8 Th Grade Girls
- Conference
- Location
-
Austin, Texas
- Publication Date
-
June 14, 2009
- Start Date
-
June 14, 2009
- End Date
-
June 17, 2009
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Conference Session
-
Enhancing Recruitment and Retention in Engineering Education
- Tagged Division
-
K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
- Page Count
-
13
- Page Numbers
-
14.602.1 - 14.602.13
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--5565
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/5565
- Download Count
-
529
Paper Authors
Deborah Hochstein University of Memphis
Ms. Hochstein is Dept. Chair for the Engineering Technology Department at the University of Memphis. She earned a B.S. in Physics from Georgian Court University and a M.S.E. from the University of Akron.
Shelia Moses University of Memphis
Ms. Moses is the Academic Services Coordinator for the Herff College of Engineering at the University of Memphis. She earned a B.A. in Criminal Justice and a M.P.A. in Public Administration from the University of Memphis.
Daphne Jones Memphis City Schools
Ms. Jones is the Mathematics Coordinator for the Memphis City School System. She earned a B.S. and M.S.E. in education from the University of Central Arkansas. She is currently pursuing the Ed.D. from Arkansas State University.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Expanding Your Horizons: A STEM Career Conference for 7th and 8th Grade Girls Abstract
A recent study performed for the Memphis Regional Economic Development Council reported that Memphis is facing several key challenges including: gaps between education, workforce development and business; African-Americans under-represented in high-tech occupations; and low level of educational attainment. To address these concerns they recommended that efforts be made to: better communicate emerging career opportunities to lower income youth, especially in the early grades; develop programs to reduce the drop-out rate; and place emphasis on math, sciences, language and critical thinking.
To this end, the University of Memphis hosted a one-day STEM career conference for 7th and 8th grade girls. It was sponsored through a grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Herff College of Engineering and utilized the support system available through the national Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) network. The EYH network is a non- profit membership organization of educators, scientists, mathematicians, parents, community leaders, and government and corporate representatives whose mission is to encourage young women to pursue careers in the STEM fields through the use of role models and hands-on activities. Their goal, and the goal of this conference is to motivate girls to become innovative and creative thinkers ready to meet 21st Century challenges.
The day long workshop was divided into five tracks where students and parents had the option of attending the track session of their choice. Each student selected from one of the following four tracks: (a) Engineering, (b) Healthcare, (c) Computer Technology and (d) Basic Math & Science. The fifth track was reserved for parents interested in learning more about preparing to send their child to college. Within each track the student participated in four different workshops. Each workshop was led by a female professional currently working in the STEM field. The workshop contained information about career options, a hands-on activity related to attaining a position in that career field and an opportunity for participants to ask questions.
Survey instruments were used to assess the success of this event. A Pre and Post survey was administered to assess any changes in the student’s knowledge of or attitude toward STEM careers. Each student was asked to complete a short survey for each workshop to determine which ones were most effective. Also each workshop leader, as a representative from local industry, was asked to complete a survey that evaluated the effectiveness of the conference. The results of the analysis of these surveys are included in the conference paper as well as a “lessons learned”. There are two long term impacts of this conference. The first and most obvious is the impact the conference will have on the students who participate. The experience has the potential to influence the student long after the event is over. The second impact will promote the establishment of a new chapter of EYH in West Tennessee.
Introduction
Hochstein, D., & Moses, S., & Jones, D. (2009, June), Expanding Your Horizons: A Stem Career Conference For 7 Th And 8 Th Grade Girls Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5565
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2009 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015