Penn State Erie Program Aims to Increase the Number of Women in STEM Fields

Each year the Penn State campus in Erie invites scores of seventh and eighth grade girls from 40 schools in northwestern Pennsylvania to its Math Options Career Day. The girls spend the day building motors, designing bridges, and participating in science experiments. Penn State Erie faculty and area professionals participate in Math Option Career Day. The goal of the program is to encourage these girls to pursue a science-oriented curriculum in high school so that they will be prepared to take STEM courses in college.

The program appears to be having an impact. Women enrollments in the School of Engineering at the university have increased by 68 percent from 2005 to 2011.