Python & Robots & Glitter, Oh My!

Lauren Crane

Photo Courtesy of Trent Nelson

Girls watch a chemistry experiment performed by a chemistry professor from Utah Valley University.

Did you know that as of 2025, 45% of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students are women: a noticeable increase from years past. Despite this, only 28% of the STEM workforce is made up of women, and 40% of those women leave their fields after just 5-7 years. In contrast, only 23% of their male counterparts leave after 5-7 years. Many things have been done to try and increase women’s involvement in STEM, including SheTech Explorer Day.

SheTech Explorer Day is a free event specifically held for high school girls held once a year at the Mountain America Expo Center. This year Explorer Day is on February 24th and runs from 9am to 1pm and is a day of workshops, team building activities and a tech hall full of various activities.

Explorer Day provides high school girls with the opportunity to see what’s possible for them to achieve when it comes to fields that are male dominated-like STEM careers-as well as jobs in the film and journalism industry. In the Tech Zone, colleges and companies show off what programs and careers they provide. Participants can stop at Salt Lake Community College’s math table or look at Utah State’s agricultural science booth. Well known companies like Adobe, Vivint and Domo also have booths showcasing their newest innovations in the tech world. A fan favorite among participants is Coca-Cola’s new flavor survey.

Coca-Cola brings in a new flavour every year for attendees to try. Participants get to give feedback on it and influence if it's released to the public! Last year girls at SheTech sampled an orange creamsicle flavor.

As students walk from booth to booth in the Tech Zone, they don’t get lectured about what choice of education or career they should make. Instead, they get to do hands-on activities such as coding a robot or making instant snow..

Along with all these activities, attendees pick up swag along the way. Anything from Lego shaped highlighters to endless amounts of stickers, All of which go in the SheTech bag that’s handed out at the start of the day.

Another part of the day is the workshops students can attend. Whether they take an interest in Java, HTML or Python, there’s always a coding workshop. There are also workshops in animation, chemistry and much more.

After walking through the TechZone and workshops, all the girls meet together and have lunch (which participants will provide). After everyone is done eating all the participants go into a brainstorming challenge where an invention is created to solve a real world problem. Every table thinks of a problem to solve and then they brainstorm and collaborate to pick the best invention. A girl or two from each group are designated to sketch out the design and then an adult comes around the table and the girls pitch their invention.

Overall it’s an eventful day where attendees meet lots of like-minded girls interested in STEM, learn about the potential of their education and walk away feeling less overwhelmed about the dreaded “What do you want to do after you graduate?” question.

Photo Courtesy of SheTech Official Organization

SheTech’s 2025 Student Board posed on stage for a picture at Explorer Day.

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