Discovery World's Girls & STEM inspires girls to pursue science
The Brief
Discovery World in Milwaukee hosted Girls & STEM on Saturday.
The female-focused day is designed to inspire girls and ignite success.
Data from M.I.T. shows women make up roughly 28% of the STEM workforce.
MILWAUKEE - Today they're girls, but in the future they could be rocket scientists, mechanical engineers – even TV meteorologists. On Sunday, Discovery World hosted a female-focused day designed to ignite success.
What they're saying
A love for math meant the annual Girls & STEM event at Discovery World was the perfect place for Victoria Manger.
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"Honestly, I've really been enjoying geometry this year," she said.
"There's so many different ways we can teach girls, and girls can learn STEM, other than reading a book," said Meghan Langmyer with Discovery World. "When you're hands-on with something, it's almost like an alternative learning method."
Langmyer helped organize the day packed with coding activities, robotics and more. There were even big bubbles to explain surface tension.
"I hope, if anything, they become curious, and they become confident in their curiosity, so they want to discover more," Langmyer added.
What they're saying
Face-to-face exposure is clearly influential.
"I love having a role model to look up to," said Manger. "It's like, 'Oh, I can take this right here, and I can probably get to where you are today.'"
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Despite progress and growing interest over the last decade, women remain underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and mathematic fields. Data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows women make up roughly 28% of the STEM workforce.
"I can walk up and down the street and see construction equipment and parts that my valves and things that I've made are on," said Kim Wollenberg. "It's really cool to see how what I do and what I make applies in the real world."
Wollenberg is an engineer who works on big mechanical projects. She's simplified her work for young minds.
"We teach them specifically about hydraulics, also parts and assembly, and we get them excited," Wollenberg added.
Girls were the focus of the educational day, but there was a lesson for everyone.
"Boys can learn a little bit of everything. They can learn their mom has power. They can learn the engineering field is fun, and it's for everyone," said Langmyer.
The Source
FOX6 News went to the Girls & STEM event at Discovery World and talked to some of the organizers and attendees. Data was also provided by M.I.T.
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