Advancing Young Women in STEM
Opportunities
Resources
Below is a link to resource sites for girls and young women regarding STEM-related disciplines. Use this link for a printable version, suitable for handouts
Promising Practices
Background
In conjunction with the Million Girls Moonshot sponsored by the STEM Next Opportunity Fund, the New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network (NMOST) convened a STEM Gender Equity Coalition including representatives of programs serving girls and young women throughout the state.
The Gender Equity Coalition:
Erika Acosta – NMSU’s Mathematically Connected Communities (MC2)
Wiebke Boeing – NMSU’s Girls on Outdoor Adventures for Leadership and Science (GALS)
Allison Brody – Explora
Cheri Burch – American Association of University Women
Becky Calhoun – Girls Inc.
Selena Connealy – New Mexico Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
Caitlin Everhart – New Mexico Out of School Time Network
Mahalia Hunt – New Mexico Out of School Time Network
Tim Karpoff – Co-Facilitator
Hollie Lovely – NM PBS/SciGirls
Jeff McConaughy – New Mexico Out of School Time Network
Sara Morales – New Mexico State University (NMSU) STEM Outreach Center
May Sagbakken – New Mexico Out of School Time Network
Kim Scheerer – New Mexico MESA
Brittany Sonntag – New Mexico State University 4-H
Michelle Sterling-Rodriguez – NMSU’s Mathematically Connected Communities (MC2)
Debbie Zipes – Co-Facilitator
The Coalition developed Promising Practice Guidelines for OST programs to recruit, engage and inspire more girls in STEM. The Guidelines are designed for leaders, practitioners, families, community partners, and volunteers working with girls in OST programs across New Mexico and nationally. Coming together to create a shared framework opens the doors for new ways to work together, develop training, and build new supports for the OST field to accelerate STEM change in our communities. The Guidelines were developed from an extensive review of national research and literature, along with expert input and counsel from Coalition members. Focus groups with female high school and college students were conducted at Explora and New Mexico State University to ensure the Guidelines reflect the realities of girls and young women, and the unique landscape and voices of New Mexico. Twelve promising practices emerged consistently across all of the research and conversations and serve as the core framework.
Overview
The purpose of the guidelines is to offer promising practices for out-of-school time (OST) programs to recruit, engage and inspire more girls in STEM. The Guidelines are designed for leaders, practitioners, families, community partners, and volunteers working with girls in OST programs across New Mexico and nationally. Coming together to create a shared framework opens the doors for new ways to work together, develop training, and build new supports for the OST field to accelerate STEM change in our communities.
AYWSTEM Scholarship
The New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network has concluded its Advancing Young Women in STEM scholarship cycle for 2024. Please check back late in the year for updates on 2025.
It is vitally important that diversity of perspectives and ideas are actively encouraged in the STEM disciplines and the Advancing Young Women in STEM scholarship is one small way we can support an underrepresented group, women, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at this critical moment in history.
Applicants for the Scholarships Must Be:
- A high school junior or senior applying for a college program in a STEM discipline OR a current undergraduate pursuing a STEM degree.
- A resident of New Mexico OR currently enrolled at a New Mexico college or university.
- A young woman (25 or younger) pursing a STEM education and/or career.
- Currently carrying a minimum 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
* Repeat applications are welcome, but previous awardees are ineligible.
Past Scholarship Recipients:
Businesses in New Mexico have trouble finding the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Women make up more than half the population of New Mexico, yet they are much less likely to earn a STEM degree or pursue a STEM career. New Mexico could dramatically increase its available talent by focusing on strategies for closing this gap. Women remain underrepresented in the STEM professions and there is a need to inspire the next generation of female innovators and leaders. NMOST is committed to advancing and diversifying the STEM field. This scholarship is designed to assist and encourage young women pursuing a STEM career. NMOST will be awarding $1000, $750 and $500 scholarships.
Interested in becoming a sponsor? The 2023 sponsorship packet can be found here
Women remain underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) professions and there is a need to close the gender gap and inspire the next generation of female innovators and leaders. As a way to help address gender inequity in STEM, the New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network (NMOST) has created the Advancing Young Women in STEM Scholarships. NMOST’s goal is to give women interested in STEM the opportunity to pursue their passions and interests and work towards closing the gender gap in STEM.
In 2018, scholarships helped three New Mexico women pursue their dreams in STEM fields. NMOST was able to increase the number of scholarships for 2019 to six, and from 2020 through 2023 NMOST raised enough funding to support 12 young women in pursuing their passion for STEM. NMOST encourages you to donate to the scholarship fund to support women in STEM, building their confidence in themselves and their abilities, as well as motivating them to continue their work.
Million Girls Moonshot
The New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network (NMOST) is excited to be a part of the Million Girls Moonshot. The Intel Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation have joined STEM Next Opportunity Fund and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to launch the Million Girls Moonshot. The effort is designed to engage 1 million school-age girls in the United States in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning opportunities over the next five years. The organizations will provide grant funding and in-kind resources to Mott-funded afterschool networks in all 50 states to increase access to hands-on, immersive STEM learning experiences.
Inspiring More Girls in STEM
The New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network plans to use the funds to help afterschool programs in the state provide STEM education. Our focus will be equity and inclusion for all youth and strategies for increasing the number of girls attending OST STEM programming. Currently, there is no coordinated strategy in NM to share best practices on gender inclusion and equity with OST providers.
To fill this gap, NMOST will expand our existing system building efforts and convene organizations working with girls in STEM to create a vision for the next ten years and draft guidelines on how to expand access for girls in OST STEM programming. Our partners in this effort will include New Mexico Math, Engineering and Science Achievement (NM MESA), NM EPSCoR, NM PBS/SciGirls, Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum, Girls Inc of Santa Fe, American Association of University Women (AAUW), and multiple groups at New Mexico State University: STEM Outreach Center, Girls on Outdoor Adventures for Leadership and Science (GALS), and Mathematically Connected Communities (MC2).
Young Women in STEM Scholarships
Women remain underrepresented in the STEM professions and there is a need to close the gender gap and inspire the next generation of female innovators and leaders. NMOST has created the Advancing Young Women in STEM Scholarships to help address the gender gap in the STEM disciplines and STEM-related fields.
Katherine Johnson: NASA Trailblazer
Born in 1918, Katherine Johnson was one of the first Black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools before becoming a NASA mathematician where she helped send astronauts into orbit around Earth and to the moon and back.
Debbie Sterling: Inspiring the next generation of female engineers
Close your eyes and picture an engineer. You probably weren’t envisioning Debbie Sterling. Debbie Sterling is an engineer and founder of GoldieBlox, a toy company out to inspire the next generation of female engineers. She has made it her mission in life to tackle the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math.
Katie Bouman: The Woman Behind the First Black Hole Image
In 2019, 29 year old computer scientist Katie Bouman led the development of a computer program that created the first ever picture of a black hole. Her algorithm made it possible for a network of eight telescopes across the globe to construct an image of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy.
