This thesis summarizes the progress made in designing a Holy Child Women In STEM Initiative. The results contained in this thesis were obtained through collaboration with the School of the Holy Child and the Holy Child Community. The project aims to address the lack of women in STEM.
The project was used to demonstrate the feasibility of creating a website for Holy Child current students/alumni interested and/or working in STEM. The website was created with these features in mind: education, networking, and community building. These features would provide students with well rounded access to STEM learning.
The research and education efforts are dedicated to prototyping a website that serves to provide easy access to STEM resources and education. This work produces benefits in terms of a multi-generational STEM community that would allow Holy Child students to network with each other and alumni, sharing experiences, guiding each other toward their passion, and supporting one another through challenges thrown their way. This STEM community would provide feedback on how to promote STEM learning at Holy Child and how to better prepare girls for STEM careers through course offerings, support systems, and mentorship.
I came up with the idea to do a poster not only because of all the white empty walls in the school but because of this quote:
I never thought about how rare it was to hear about a woman in STEM in a textbook let alone see one in the hallway. I remember doing a project in 11th grade about women engineers. I had a very hard time finding someone I truly could say was a role model for me. I hadn’t ever learned about women in STEM. And it turns out I am not alone. So I decided to make an Andy Warhol-inspired 5’x5’ poster of nine women in STEM.