Mentoring Program for K-12 Girls in Engineering

BACKGROUND: A program was developed to mentor K-12 female students. In a 2016 report, it was concluded that only twenty-nine percent of the science and engineering workforce are female and only fifteen percent are female for engineering occupations, specifically. Although the female presence has grown in STEM fields, there are still improvements to be made. Studies have shown that female students who had female STEM role models benefitted long-term and did not drop out of the field. Girls that were mentored in STEM were more inclined to choose STEM fields of study and women who had peer mentors in engineering were more likely to stay in engineering majors. PROCEDURES: The initial mentoring activities were set up with female students of the West Michigan Aviation Academy (WMAA). The program was designed to inspire the female students at WMAA to pursue engineering as a field of study and ultimately a career. The mentors are female engineering students from Grand Valley State University. OUTCOMES: The program has been tailored for the students through continuous improvement and feedback from mentors as well as the students and teachers of WMAA. Through sharing of experiences, open discussions, and walkthroughs of a variety of resources, the program has gathered the attention of numerous students at WMAA. IMPACT: This mentoring program has been able to engage female students from WMAA with other females in engineering. The next steps are to ensure the program’s sustainability and to investigate its expansion to the Grand Rapids community