What’s wrong with this picture? The U.S. Department of Commerce
Economic and Statistic Administration reports that although
women outnumber men among recent college graduates and graduate
school attendees, women hold fewer than 25 percent of jobs in
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields.
It’s been almost 30 years since the late Sally Ride became the
first American woman in space, but there seems to be only a
trickle of women and girls behind her in the STEM pipeline. IBM
is trying to change that. The company sponsors the annual Girls
Go TechKnow Camp to introduce 12 and 13-year old girls to STEM
careers in the atmosphere of a globally integrated enterprise.
As a middle school counselor, I have attended the camp with my
students for the last three years, and have witnessed their
enthusiasm for the hands-on activities and workshops led by
women in STEM fields – most of them IBM Master Inventors with at
least 10 patents. Exposure to these leaders in their fields
would be interesting for any