Texas Women and Girls in STEM Summit
Breakout Session 2
11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
 

The Leaking Pipeline: Small Changes and Big Reforms In The Workplace To Retain Women In Engineering
EER 2.850

The number of women in STEM is increasing. Organizations world-wide highlight strides to speed this growth, but the pipeline is leaking. Diversity is not inclusion. As a consultant, I help clients define failure modes, strategies, and processes for their assets. The reliability principles apply to “people assets” as well. I am a student of culture and work with our international management team to stress: culture stewardship is intentional. As women, we steward change by stating our needs, partnering to plug the leaks with small changes and big reforms. This presentation will address the current leaks, offer examples of using a different perspective to change policies, and give personal examples which made for a more inclusive environment.

Presented by: Errin Evans, Reliability Engineer, ARMS Reliability

GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Mathematics, and Science) Camp: Increasing Female Students’ Interest in STEM and Programming
EER 3.642/3.640

GEMS STEAM and Programming Camp is a free summer camp for middle and high school girls from underserved schools in San Antonio. This presentation will provide an overview of the camp, its curriculum, and program outcomes. The mission of GEMS is to inspire and empower middle school and high school girls to be innovative with their future in the fields of STEAM. GEMS is operated with the goal of introducing more underrepresented females into STEAM fields, especially providing them learning opportunities in robotics and programming. The megaGEMS curriculum introduced Python programming for both middle and high school students for the first time. Additionally, GEMS expanded the program to include high school level (megaGEMS) camps and successfully hosted two two-week high school girls’ camps and one six-week high school research camp.

Presented by:
Calista Burns, University of the Incarnate Word
Michael Frye, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of the Incarnate Word
Srikanth Vemula, University of the Incarnate Word
Chaoyi Wang, University of the Incarnate Word

Mechanical Mustangs - Affirmed "No Boys Allowed" Robotics Team
EER 0.706

Lutheran HS of San Antonio supports multiple FIRST Tech Challenge robotics teams.  Three years ago sought to increase female participation and empowerment via the creation of a "No Boys Allowed" robotics team.  The panel discussion will be lead by area robotics organizer and coach with a quick introduction of the FTC program and hand it over to UT Austin Sophomore and Freshman who are alumni of that first season along with 2 current members on the team and juniors at Lutheran HS of SA.  They will share thoughts on impacts and reactions to being on an all girls team as their first experience with robotics.

Presented by:
Andrew Schuetze, Instructor - robotics coach - area organizer FTC in Texas, Lutheran High School of San Antonio
Gia Lewis, UT Austin Second Year Undergraduate
Kylan Perry, UT Austin First Year Undergraduate
Mikki Urban, Lutheran High School Junior
Paige Riley, Lutheran High School Junior 

The View from the Ivory Tower: Bridging the Research-Practice Gap
EER 3.646

In this session we will look at some recent research related to student engagement, social and emotional learning, and STEM education.  We will discuss ways to balance work in the classroom with continual professional and personal growth including accessing resources, both scholarly and informal.  Participants will leave the session with a bank of research based strategies to use immediately in the classroom as well as the tools needed to continue to build their professional practice.

Presented by: Ella Miesner, Doctoral Student/Middle School Science Teacher, The University of Texas at Austin

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