Young Women in Science

YWIS programs are designed to provide opportunities for girls to broaden their knowledge and interest in STEM through challenging, hands-on, collaborative laboratory experiences in a variety of disciplines led by women STEM professionals.

STEM SUMMER

Our Young Women in Science Summer programs are week-long explorations in real science labs where girls dive into hands-on science and engineering investigations alongside female peers who share a love of inquiry and discovery.

AFTER SCHOOL: Girls Science Clubs

Investigate science phenomena, design and build as an engineer, and join a club where your voice matters! Girls Science Clubs are open to all female- and nonbinary-identified youth and are FREE for participants.

Become a Mentor

Female-identifying students in grades 9-12 may apply to be a Youth Mentor and are compensated by stipend, community service credits, or a combination of both. Mentor intern positions are available for students in grades 7-8. Join a fantastic team!

Why encourage young women in science?

STEM careers are a critical pathway to economic empowerment for students from Pittsfield where 58% are classified as economically disadvantaged by the MA Dept. of Education. In MA, the average annual entry-level wage for STEM careers is $56,000, which is around twice that of the $28,000 average for all entry-level MA workers. Every sector of the STEM industry outperforms the median annual wage of the workforce as a whole.

Though STEM jobs appear evenly distributed among men and women, when excluding healthcare, women hold 29% of STEM occupations. Women tend to work in low-paying STEM industries, despite overall parity in the number of employed.

In addition, racial data from 2020 estimates that only 27% of STEM worker are non-white with 5% identifying as Black, 6% Latinx, and 15% Asian.