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Girls Raised In Tennessee Science
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From the director
Computer Science Education Week
Opportunities in STEM
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Issue: #53

December 2011

From the Director

Hi everyone,

 

It is hard to believe that 2011 is almost over. In 2011, GRITS continued to make an impact in STEM for girls and their families across Tennessee. A Girl Scout Science Night, SciGirls Summit, and Teaching All Girls (TAG) Chess are three new programs supported by GRITS mini-grants. We also participated in two Expanding Your Horizons conferences where approximately 500 girls and their parents and teachers learned about STEM education and careers. We also held our first annual conference and heard stories from successful women in STEM. Programs supported by GRITS and other Collaboratives, provide students and the adults in their lives with essential information on how to make informed choices about higher education in the STEM disciplines.

 

Why STEM? The Wall Street Journal recently reported that STEM disciplines have very low levels of unemployment. Actuarial science has 0.0% unemployment yet is ranked 150/173 in popularity. Pharmacology (169/173), geological engineering (166/173) and astronomy and astrophysics (170/173) also have 0.0% unemployment but are quite unpopular. My field, chemistry, has a 5.1% unemployment and is rated 36/173 in popularity. The most popular field (1/173) is business management and administration with 6.0% unemployment. The data in the Wall Street Journal article are provided by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Check out your favorite STEM field at http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/NILF1111/#term=Science.

 

On behalf of the GRITS Collaborative Project, thank you for all that you do for Girls Raised In Tennessee Science!

 

Judith

 Computer Science Education Week

Computer science-not computer literacy-underlies most innovation today, from biotechnology to cinematography to energy and climate change. You can make a difference by participating in Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) to raise awareness of the role computing plays in all our lives and to promote computer science education for all students. Computer science activities can help inspire youth to develop the next great computing innovations that will change the world and expose them to the skills they need to create and discover new things.  CSEdWeek (December 4-10, 2011) will always be held the week containing December 9 -- the week of Grace Hopper's birthday (December 9, 1906).  You can advocate for Computer Science Education by visiting the CSEdWeek website, www.csedweek.org, which offers sample letters, resolutions, and other resources to assist you in reaching out to local and federal representatives to ensure computer science is a fundamental part of K-12 education.

Opportunities in STEM

The Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE) of Middle Tennessee State University proudly announces the First Annual Forensic Science Symposium for middle and high school students to be held on May 12, 2012. This science fair will showcase original research performed by students in seventh through twelfth grades in various fields of forensic science. We would like to invite everyone to participate in this exciting opportunity. FIRE has created the Forensic Science Symposium to encourage middle and high school students with an interest in forensic science to conduct and present original scientific research. FIRE hopes to promote success in scientific fields by providing a program that will stimulate, motivate, and inspire students. For more information, please visit www.mtsu.edu/fire or contact us at fire@mtsu.edu

 

Deloitte in Hermitage, TN has several paid summer 2012 Internship Opportunities for college women. They must currently be a college sophomore or junior with a 3.2 Overall GPA in a technical field. Local candidates with housing in middle Tennessee are preferred. This is an official program where Deloitte will be providing some management training for the interns over the summer. If you know of women candidates who fit the requirements, please contact Eileen Marsh at eileenm@infosystems.biz or (615) 431-2361 or Katie Prevost at ksprevost@us.ibm.com or (404) 441-4965.

 

If you have opportunities for Tennessee girls, please forward to us and we will try our best to include in the GRITS Collaborative Project newsletter.

Thank you for supporting Girls Raised In Tennessee Science!  Happy Holidays!

 
Judith Iriarte-Gross Ph.D.
GRITS Collaborative Project
WISTEM Center
615-494-7763