Women make up half of the total U.S. college-educated workforce, but only 29% of the science and engineering workforce. Since 1990, the percentage of women in computer occupations has gone down by 7%. Girls’ disengagement with STEM starts young. By the time girls are 11, they are already losing interest in science and math, and only 14% of teenage girls want to be a scientist. It is critically important that the persistent stereotypes discouraging girls from pursuing STEM careers are dispelled and other obstacles that get in girls’ way are removed. Girls deserve supportive, experiential, all-girl environments where they feel invited and encouraged to join the fun of discovering the world around them and where they can prove to themselves that they do like and can excel in STEM. Such a foundation is key to girls persisting in STEM education. This is where we step in with Operation SMART.

Operation SMART is a STEM education continuum designed to retain as many girls as possible in STEM-focused enrichment programs from kindergarten through senior year of high school. Starting with a STEM-based early grade literacy program for girls in K-3rd grades, our youngest learners are introduced to STEM fields and women in these professions. From 4-7th grades, girls have hands-on STEM enrichment through Girls Inc. in their schools and in our intensive yearlong STEM GEMS program offered on Saturdays. Eighth- to 12th-grade girls are invited to participate in Eureka! Eureka! is a five-year program offered in partnership with Drexel University that brings girls, including many who will be first generation college applicants, onto Drexel’s campus for an intensive summer program. Eureka! continues through the school year with college readiness activities at Girls Inc. We offer additional STEM in-school and summer opportunities for high school girls not participating in Eureka!

Girls start losing interest in STEM by 11 years old. Our STEM GEMS program is a critical piece of the larger Girls Inc. STEM education continuum, boosting girls’ interest in STEM at an age when most are disengaging. Currently, STEM GEMS has 40 participants, 4-6th grades, with a waiting list. Having multiple grades also means that girls may be at very different developmental stages. If awarded the Key to Community grant, we will restructure STEM GEMS into two cohorts of 30 girls – one cohort for 4th and 5th graders and another for 6th and 7th graders. An academic support component will also be built into this model to ensure that girls are reaching their academic goals. We will expand our peer-to-peer mentoring model, where STEM GEMS are mentored by girls in our high school leadership programs. Funds from the grant would also allow us to add an additional two-week summer STEM program for 25 girls in grades 8-11.