New Nonprofit Aims To Encourage Girls To Pursue STEM in Sparta

There’s an undeniable gender gap in the United States where women are vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce, according to The National Science Foundation.

The National Science Foundation reports that even though women hold almost half of the jobs in the U.S., they hold less than 29 percent of STEM jobs.

A new nonprofit program called The DreamGirls Initiative is working to combat this gender difference and introduce young girls to fascinating career options in STEM.

On Sept.17 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., girls in sixth through eighth grade are invited to the first DreamDay Workshop by The DreamGirls Initiative at the Sparta Middle School.

At this free workshop, girls will gain exposure to the life of a woman in STEM. Companies such as Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Pepperidge Farm, and Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and flavor company, will be at the workshop.

“Girls have a lot of great ideas about how to make the world better, and pursuing a career in STEM is a great way to make those ideas a reality. There’s just a common misconception about what kinds of things scientists and engineers do, and DreamGirls plans to change that message,” Founder and President Rashmi Drummond told the Sparta Independent.

Drummond has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degrees in Chemical Engineering and was very accomplished in the food industry before leaving work to raise her children, the Sparta Independent reported.

The DreamGirls Initiative Workshop gives girls a hands-on look into STEM in a unique way to encourage girls to pursue their interests in STEM.

The National Science Foundation found that women earned 50.3 percent of STEM undergraduate degrees in 2013. But, women are less likely than their male peers to work in a STEM career. Instead, women with STEM degrees likely work in education or healthcare.

For example, 35.2 percent of chemists are women, 11.1 percent of physicists and astronomers are women, 7.9 percent of mechanical engineers are women, and 22.7 percent of chemical engineers are women.

There is a variety of notions as to why women aren’t as involved in STEM, such as the lack of role models in STEM, the belief that women in STEM are “unfeminine,” or the pressure of conforming.

The DreamGirls Initiative works to combat these ideas and to encourage girls from a young age that they can and are able to pursue their interests in STEM.

Register for the workshop at: http://tinyurl.com/DreamDay2016.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.