STEM-Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (Ongoing)

STEM Activities 

Background

  • Between 2012 and 2016, the AAUW Chippewa Falls Branch provided scholarships for eight girls to attend the STEPS Camp (Science, Technology, Engineering Preview Summer) at the University of Wisconsin at Stout.
  • The Chippewa Falls Branch typically sponsors one girl who will be entering the 7th grade in the fall. In 2013, one of our members paid for an additional camper. In 2012 we provided three mini-grants through the Community Foundation of Chippewa County.
  • The mission of the STEPS Camp is to inspire young women to prepare for and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Its goal is to break down gender and cultural biases that may prevent young women from considering STEM careers. This is accomplished by providing early introduction to STEM topics with hand-on activities using female role models to break down stereotypes and give young women the confidence and knowledge that STEM careers are interesting, rewarding and well within their grasp.
  • The STEPS Camp at Stout conducts four five-day sessions each July with about 80 girls in each session. They are divided into groups of 20 girls each. The girls stay overnight in the dorms and work in college labs and classrooms participating in manufacturing activities and teambuilding exercises.

Project Update

  • In the spring of 2016, three members of the Chippewa Falls Branch met with three past scholarship recipients to learn about their experiences at the STEPS Camp. (See Recipients.) They had very positive comments about the all girl camp and its leadership opportunities and would recommend the Camp to other 7th grade girls.  “When I think of summer, I think of Camp,” said one of the girls. In addition, one of the girls has attended additional STEM Camps at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and had been selected to be a Junior Counselor at the STEPS Camp at Stout in 2016.
  • A Stout Survey of college-age STEPS graduates who attended the 1997, 1998, and 1999 camps was conducted in 2005. The results indicate that girls who attend STEPS are up to three times more likely to choose college majors in science and engineering than peers who have not had the STEPS experience