Annual Conference
On Monday, June 21, 2010, the Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative, in partnership with the University of Louisville, held its Second Annual Conference, “STEM Innovations: Next Generation, Pathways to Success for Girls,” at the University of Louisville Shelby Campus.
Over 100 educators, business and community leaders, parents and girls came together to explore up-and-coming career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math and to learn proactive steps to helping girls overcome roadblocks to their success in these fields.
Executive Vice President and University Provost at the University of Louisville, Dr. Shirley Willihnganz, kicked off the conference, which featured three wonderfully engaging keynote speakers: Kris Kimel, President of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, Catherine Didion, Director of the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (CWSEM) and Senior Program at the National Academy of Engineering, and Dr. Andresse St. Rose, a research associate at the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and co-author of the book, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
The conference also featured an Industry Showcase in which attendees interacted with representatives from prominent Kentucky businesses who each discussed their organization’s state-of-the-art technology, their workforce needs and future opportunities for girls, and afternoon breakout sessions, “Science Readiness,” “Why Not More,” and “Shaping Girls Experiences,” which provided more in-depth and interactive dialogues between panelists and audience members.
Great door prizes donated from local and state sponsors were raffled off at the end of the conference.The Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative hosted its first Annual Conference on June 15, 2009. Participants rated it a great success.
The conference featured presentations by Ms. Jo Sanders, nationally recognized speaker on gender equity in the classroom; and Dr. Carrie Buxton, Ph.D., Program Manager for Antenna Systems Development Facility, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A Teacher's Workshop and "Girls Day Out" followed on June 16, 2009. The workshop allowed a more personal and in-depth discussion, with Ms. Sanders addressing the latest research on gender-biased classroom interaction. While the teachers were learning, so were 43 young girls attending "Girls Day Out." They scratched the surface of STEM by touring engineering labs at the University of Kentucky, visiting a newly updated digital television productions studio (Kentucky Education Television), and experiencing the new technology in use at a local agriculture farm.
Read about the conference in Business Lexington.
