A social approach to a fact-oriented field.

In 2017, Women in STEM was founded at the University of Chicago Lab Schools as a mechanism to bridge the gap between social justice and academic fields. Recognizing the issue was the foundation for our work that followed. Translating discussion and theory to concrete action and passionate activism ultimately became the primary focus of our organization in the forms of various initiatives.

Since March of 2017, we have been developing dually-driven approaches in which we tackle both the attitudes surrounding women in STEM and also the limited opportunities available in high school, especially for girls. We support on several programs, including facilitating constructive discussions, bringing in guest speakers, and partnering with universities to match high school students with college students in a mentorship program.

In order to guide us in the process, we received invaluable advice from countless sources, of all genders in several fields, to assist us in creating an effective, efficient, and comprehensive program. We received access to quantitative research, analyzed it, and developed our initiatives based on the statistics. WiSTEM is excited to drive our progress forward using these tactics and increased collaboration.

The gender disparity in STEM fields has been widely recognized, but few initiatives have been established at a younger age when girls decide what they want to pursue. We aim to empower and inspire girls through offering a variety of opportunities at the high school level. We hope that through this program, not only will there be an increased awareness of women's potential, but also that girls will be able to recognize their own.

2023-2024

WiSTEM Global Goals

Dear WiSTEM Community,

On behalf of the 2023-2024 Leadership Team, it is a pleasure to welcome you into a new year of school and a new year of goals for Women in STEM. Like with any other year, we have a plethora of updates, goals, and requests to share so that we may best tackle the new year together.

Foundationally, WiSTEM is a community built for high school students, built by high school students. This type of involvement is the reason why it thrives as a dynamic and empowering platform for young women to share their passion for STEM. Being a part of WiSTEM means being a part in the creation of meaningful connections, mentorship opportunities, and the exchange of knowledge that fosters such a lively ecosystem of empowerment, innovation, and lifelong learning. In line with those values, we propose the following goals for the WiSTEM community to strive towards during 2023-2024 school year:

Goal 1: Continue our focus on growth and expansion by onboarding new chapters to Women in STEM, broadening both the geographical reach of WiSTEM and the vibrancy of this community with the varied experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives each new member brings. By the end of this school year, we are hoping to reach as close to 10,000 members as possible; you can help us reach this goal by encouraging individuals in your community to become part of our WiSTEM one! Feel free to keep updated with our current stats on the WiSTEM homepage: https://womeninstem.org/. Furthermore, we wish to support individual WiSTEM chapters with enhanced ambassador resources and requirements--including fundraising opportunities--to guide each chapter through the school year. This also involves establishing partnerships with industry professionals, universities, and organizations to provide meaningful mentorship and hands-on experiences for members. By continually expanding and diversifying our network, we also hope to strengthen the existing connections of 150+ chapters we currently have.

Goal 2: In order to support our growing community, WiSTEM is also committed to streamlining the efficiency and increasing the scalability of our operations. From keeping organized records of all our projects to readily responding to any email inquiries, we aim to leverage technology to create more streamlined, technologically advanced, and scalable operations that enable us to strive towards our other goals as efficiently as possible.

Goal 3: WiSTEM’s organization-wide events serve as critical opportunities for knowledge sharing, skill development, networking, and empowerment. Thus, our aim is to organize either an internal event or collaborate with an external organization, speaker, or panel of speakers on a monthly basis. This includes hosting workshops, webinars, panel discussions, and competitions, among others. We hope you will join us in these events--either with your chapter or independently--and organize events of your own as well. Keep your eyes peeled on the #events channel in Slack for exciting events held by other WiSTEM ambassadors AND a potential WiSTEM Ambassador Summit!

Goal 4: As with last year, continue sourcing the expertise of the incredible National Advisory Council (NAC) members and WiSTEM alumni, whether it relates to organization-held events or internal projects. On behalf of the leadership team, we are immensely grateful for time and expertise they have contributed to WiSTEM last year, and we hope they are excited to continue international expansion efforts, collaborative events with universities and organizations, the development of resources for teachers, obtaining official 501(c)3 nonprofit status, and other endeavors aimed at furthering our mission. Individuals interested in aiding WiSTEM with these projects may send an email to maddie@womeninstem.org; we look forward to connecting!

Goal 5: Finally, we are more determined than ever to become a 501(c)3 nonprofit--which means gaining new funding opportunities and avenues for chapter support! After all, YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS. Whether it is as a Chapter Ambassador, Leadership Team member, prospective donor, or casual WiSTEM Instagram stalker (@womeninstem__org), everyone has a role to play.

We thank you all for your continued support and dedication to our community. If you have any questions or ideas for this year, please do not hesitate to reach out current President Carolyn He (carolyn@womeninstem.org) or Project Manager Aparna Ganesh (aparna@womeninstem.org). Please also use the “Digital Media” folder on the Ambassadors Drive to upload pictures of your events as we grow our presence on Instagram (@womeninstem__org) and LinkedIn (@Women in STEM Organization).

Warmest regards and best of luck in the new school year,

The 2023-2024 WiSTEM Leadership Team and National Advisory Council 

Website: https://womeninstem.org/ 

Instagram: @womeninstem__org

LinkedIn: @Women in STEM Organization