Integrating Engineering into a General STEM Program for Middle School Girls

Faculty members of the School of Engineering have joined with faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University in an effort to increase interest and excitement in young women with regards to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) topics. The program, called Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science (or GEMS), invites middle school girls from a multi-county area to spend their mornings, either for just a Saturday or an entire week in the summer, learning more about various STEM topics from female university instructors and professors. At the conclusion of summer, fall, and spring activities the participants were asked to rate each of the activities in which they participated, as well as how the program affected their overall interest in math, science, and engineering. The pairing of the science and engineering activities in these day and weeklong events allows for the unique opportunity to illustrate to the participants the inter-relationship between the STEM disciplines and involving a large group of girls in each session allows for a wide range of participant diversity. After participating in GEMS, 81% of the girls stated they were more excited about science, math, and engineering than before.