The University of North Texas (UNT), along with the help of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), is currently hosting their second annual version of Girls SURGE into STEM In-person camp at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History during the first two weeks of June.
The Girls SURGE into STEM XR is an outreach to underrepresented young women in 6th-12th grade in the Fort Worth area. Recruiters from the camp find young women from underrepresented groups and bring them into the camp to introduce them to emerging technology tools used for STEM education.
Only 10 spaces are available each week in camp.
“Right now, even though women are 48% of the workforce in the United States, according to the census, we’re only 28% of the STEM workforce, so there’s still a real need to bridge this gap,” said camp director and UNT assistant Professor Aleshia Hayes.
Most students in attendance come from Sanger ISD, the Fort Worth Museum of Science mailing list and the Fort Worth Young Women’s Leadership academy.
Students a part of the camp attend daily meetings with diverse STEM professionals that introduce them to careers in the field. The camp features female speakers in the STEM field, on Tuesday students hear from Janetta Boone, who works at NASA in Houston.
Throughout the course of the camp students will learn various applicable skills such as design thinking, user experience testing, and prototyping. They also partake in valuating commercial augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) tolls that are used to teach STEM content.
Highschoolers who participate this summer will be invited to come back as mentors this summer.
For more information on Girls SURGE into STEM visit https://surge.ci.unt.edu/girls-surge-stem-xr-camp
