This week is the 65th annual Engineers Week, and today, is Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day or “Girl Day”. Started in 2001 as a joint effort between NSPE, IBM, and National Engineers Week Foundation, Girl Day 2016 marks the 15th year of a special focus where women engineers, and their male colleagues, have the opportunity to introduce more than one million girls and young women to engineering. With just 12% of engineers as women, more than just one day, Introduce a Girl to Engineering is a national movement that shows girls how creative and collaborative engineering is and how engineers are changing our world.
The purpose is not only about inspiring girls to pursue engineering; it is also about changing their perceptions of what engineering is all about. Science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) education is a core philanthropic focus area for Symantec and we’ve partnered with organizations that address the skills gap by inspiring and encouraging girls and young women to pursue STEM.
Tech Trek Camp Building Excitement and Self-Confidence in STEM
We partnered with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to support their National Tech Trek program– a weeklong summer camp that introduces middle-school aged girls to STEM. The campers participate in hands-on workshops to learn everything from coding to how to build a rocket and even about cybersecurity. As part of their experience, one of the days is a meet-and-greet field trip where they get to interact with professionals in STEM. Mentorship or having a role model helps young people see the possibilities. One Tech Trek camper shared her experience with us on the blog: “One of my favorite evenings was Professional Women’s Night when lots of women from all sorts of backgrounds in STEM came to the campus to speak about what they do. I was inspired by the fact that there is a lot more out there than I had expected. Although STEM may seem like just a science class in school, there are many professions out there.”
Tech Trek Campers at Bowling Green State University
Sparking a World of Innovation and Equality
Symantec and the Global Fund for Women joined forces last year to launch a global campaign and online multimedia project called IGNITE: Women Fueling Science and Technology. Through this campaign, Global Fund for Women hopes to highlight that, with equal access and control to shape technology and science, women and girls bring unique and in-demand needs, experiences and perspectives to this sector. Symantec’ General Manager (GM) of Symantec’s Trust Services, Roxane Divol, shared her thoughts on the importance of bringing women into technology. “I advocate for more women in STEM not just because I believe in the potential of the STEM and tech sectors to lift millions of women and their families around the world out of poverty, but also because I feel that diversity is fuel for our future. Without it, we are missing out on untapped talent, differing points of view, and on innovation that can make a real difference to both corporate culture and the bottom line,” Divol states in her article. IGNITE seeks to empower women by removing the barriers to technology that women and girls’ face globally. In the ‘Be the Spark!’ collection, it showcases sixty women from historical figures such as Ada Lovelace to young women who are just embarking on their careers like Siphathisiwe Sibanda. The collection shares the stories of these women and their passion for science and technology to inspire and encourage women to pursue their passions in STEM.
Be the Spark!: Inspiring women to pursue their passions in STEM.
Conference for Women Technologists, by Women Technologists
Each year, Symantec participates at the Grace Hopper Conference (GHC) presented by the Anita Borg Institute, which is the largest gathering of women technologists in the world and is dedicated to celebrating women in computing. The three day conference is designed to empower women technologists by providing a platform to showcase women in technology featuring inspiring presentations from industry leaders and professional development activities. The Grace Hopper Conference happens two times a year, in the United States and in India, drawing in thousands from all over the world to connect, inspire, and guide women in computing. Over 100 female Symantec employees from across India attended the Grace Hopper Conference in Bengaluru, India. Sudhanshu Pandit said of the event: “Events such as GHCI play a big role in building our brand as a great place to work for technical women and in recruiting future employees. We hosted a career fair booth at the event, which never had a dull moment.”
Symantec women with Telle Whitney, President and CEO of The Anita Borg Institute
Symantec Hosts Screening of the Documentary CODEGIRL
The screening of CODEGIRL at the Symantec Headquarters was an event to be remembered! Over 100 people gathered at Symantec’s Mountain View Headquarters for the documentary screening of CODEGIRL, a film that follows teams of girls from all around the world as they compete in the Technovation Challenge – an international mobile app competition for girls in middle and high school that tasks them to solve an issue in their community by creating an app. The concept of the Technovation Challenge is to empower girls within technology and entrepreneurship and the film takes you from rural Moldova to urban Brazil and to the suburbs of Massachusetts as the girls find mentors, learn to code, and develop their business plan. Dr. Anuranjita Tewary, founder of the Technovation Challenge, was compelled to start Technovation when she noticed how immensely underrepresented women are in technology and entrepreneurship. Leslie Chilcott, Director of CODEGIRL, made the film because she wanted to inspire girls to code. “I wanted to get the film out because I wanted to inspire more teen girls to sign up for the competition this year, and that’s what happened,” Chilcott says. “It scares me that 51 percent of the population is often left out of the design, architecture, and decision-making process,” Chilcott adds. “Women are huge users of apps and technology but not big creators of it. I think it’s going to have a huge impact on society if that doesn’t change.” At the Symantec screening, one of the featured teams in the documentary, the Puppy Sized Elephants, two girls based out of Cupertino, California did a Q&A about their experience with the Technovation Challenge. They shared how they learned to code from free online platforms and described the process of making their app, My Cash Count.
The Puppy Sized Elephants, one of the teams featured in the documentary, did a Q&A after the showing of the film.
Introduce a Girl to Engineering
What does it mean to be an engineer? There are essential skills or aspects about being an engineer that are often overlooked. DiscoverE shares five powerful messages of what being an engineer looks like:
- Curiosity—Engineers ask lots of questions that start with: Why? How? What if?
- Creativity—Engineering is a great outlet for the imagination—the perfect field for independent thinkers.
- Teamwork—Engineering takes teamwork, and engineers work with all kinds of people inside and outside the field. Whether they’re designers or architects, doctors or entrepreneurs, engineers are surrounded by smart, inspiring people.
- Opportunities—An engineering degree offers lots of freedom in finding a person’s dream job. It can be a launching pad for jobs in business, design, medicine, law, and government. To employers or graduate schools, an engineering degree reflects a well-educated individual who has been taught ways of analyzing and solving problems that can lead to success in all kinds of fields.
- Helping Others—Imagine what life would be like without pollution controls to preserve the environment, life-saving medical equipment, or low-cost building materials for fighting global poverty. All this takes engineering. In very real and concrete ways, engineers save lives, prevent disease, reduce poverty, and protect our planet.
Today on #IntroduceAGirltoEngineeringDay, share the benefits and amazing opportunities that come with being involved in STEM!