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123rf.com
Education Dive
Million Girls Moonshot aims to bring 1M girls into school STEM programs
The effort will pull together technology companies, government
organizations and other stakeholders to provide grant funding, access
to resources and STEM mentors.
Shawna De La Rosa
Oct. 7, 2020
As schools continue working to better engage girls in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, a number of STEM-focused
foundations are partnering to form the Million Girls Moonshot
initiative to hook one million more girls on these subject areas over
the next five years. The organizations — which include the Intel
Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, STEM Next
Opportunity Fund and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation — will provide
grants and in-kind resources to Mott-funded afterschool networks to
increase access to STEM learning experiences.
“The purpose of the Million Girls Moonshot is to work towards closing
the gender gap,” said Dr. Penny Noyce — founding board chair for STEM
Next Opportunity Fund and daughter of one of the Intel founders, Robert
Noyce. “We are trying to pull together a cross-section of technology
companies, government organizations, state and afterschool providers to
provide grant funding, in-kind resources and access to resources and
STEM mentors.”
Though women make up half of the U.S. college-educated workforce, they
continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields. For example, they make
up just 16% of engineers, according to a press release. And Black and
Latina women only make up 2% of that field. With a STEM professional
shortfall of about 1 million workers in the near future, industry
leaders say engaging girls and minorities is critical.
There were very few women and minorities in engineering when Gabriela
González, deputy director of the Intel Foundation, launched her
engineering career at Xerox in the early 1990s. By 2005, lack of
diversity was an industry concern. Yet five years later, nothing had
changed.
“As a double minority, being both a Latina and a woman, I started
asking ‘Where are the rest of us?’” she said. “I started looking at the
research, and there was nothing reassuring that showed anything was
going to change.”
After researching the issue, González realized systemic barriers were preventing the industry from diversifying.
“Parents may still be a bit conservative when it comes to what careers
are right for women,” she said. “Parents may also be intimidated by
some careers and they may not have the resources to pay for tutors in
math or science to help students advance in their careers.”
Anne Moore, a career and technical education and STEM teacher in Goochland County Public Schools in Virginia, agrees.
“There are still many girls and minority students who are not
encouraged to pursue STEM careers due to family pressure, peer pressure
or lack of self confidence,” she said. “My classes this year are mostly
boys.”
To break the barriers, these underrepresented groups need one-on-one
encouragement so they feel comfortable talking about their interests
and pursuing STEM careers, Moore said.
The consortium is directing its funds to afterschool science programs where the money will have the greatest impact, Noyce said.
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