Reconceptualizing the Roles and Contributions of Girls and Women in STEM

In this presentation, Dr. King will explore how educators can leverage the multiple identities of girls of color and engage them in STEM learning through civic leadership, activism and intergenerational relationships. She will provide examples of youth activism being enacted through community-based initiatives and how educators can create spaces where deficit notions about girls of color can be problematized and replaced with affirming narratives. Attendees will learn how to challenge the capitalistic agenda for encouraging girls’ involvement in STEM, and reframe STEM as a mechanism to promote sisterhood and social justice. Improving the plight of women and girls in STEM requires action on both the micro and macro levels