In 2017, Women in STEM — “WiSTEM” — was founded at the University of Chicago Lab School as a mechanism to bridge the gap between social justice and academic fields. Since then, WiSTEM has expanded to support over 20,000 high school students globally. Our work is grounded in the notion that a sustainable future is an equitable one. Our three pillars: Networking, Mentorship, and Outreach take community based approaches to fostering gender parity in STEM, creating social supports that allow girls and genderqueer high school students to engage richly with the sciences.
WiSTEM’s model is unique, in that our community programming is designed entirely by students, for students.
A social approach to a fact-oriented field.
Our high school leadership team provides peer-based support to our chapters, developing events, educational content, and exciting new initiatives that meet the ever changing interests and needs of students today. The team is headed by our volunteer executive team — comprised of WiSTEM alumni — which support WiSTEM’s operational needs.
Women in STEM affirms that everyone has a role in STEM, and works proudly to support inclusionary, equitable, and accessible engagement opportunities. While systemic change is necessary to achieve true equality, it is our hope that WiSTEM can challenge the attitudes surrounding women in STEM and fill in the critical opportunity gaps that leave high school girls and genderqueer students behind.
