For every 100 mechanical engineers in the United States, just seven on average are women.
For every 100 mechanical engineers in the United States, just seven on average are women.
Females similarly comprise a mere 18 percent of computer science undergrads, statistics show, and just one-fourth of the total science, technology, engineering and math workforce.
Officials at the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems want to change that — starting with Hawaii Island’s high school girls.
This week, the Hilo-based aerospace agency held its third-year STEM Aerospace Research Scholars (STARS) program. The program, open to high school girls ages 16 and older, aims to introduce young women on the Big Island to careers in space or other STEM fields. Eight girls participated this year, up from three in the first year.
“We want to get local students involved in STEM education, specifically females,” PISCES spokeswoman Megan Moseley said. “They’re definitely out there, but giving them the opportunity and experience is half the battle. A lot of these girls … are juniors and seniors, and they want to be astronomers or they want to be mechanical engineers or work in aerospace. So this is a really good avenue for them to learn what it’s really like to work in these fields.”
The four-day workshop started in 2014 as a way to channel Hawaii students into NASA’s WISH program — a STEM program for high school women. WISH was cancelled indefinitely due to lack of funding, Moseley said, so PISCES created its own program.
And STARS is competitive. Candidates must have a minimum 3.25 grade point average and submit a 500-word essay explaining their interest in the program. Participation is capped at 12 students and determined on a first come, first served basis, according to the PISCES website.
This year’s eight participants spent Tuesday getting introduced to the PISCES headquarters. They later trekked to Keaau to see PISCES’ Helelani Planetary Rover firsthand. On Thursday, students were in Waimea at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope headquarters for the second part of a two-day space workshop. On Friday, the girls went to Mauna Kea for a sunset tour at the volcano’s summit.
Research isn’t clear as to why so few women pursue STEM careers. Some in the industry, however, believe the problem starts young — there are too few female role models in STEM jobs for young women to look up to, they say. Others say women face biases or stereotypes in occupations traditionally held mostly by men or aren’t encouraged to pursue such fields to the extent of their male counterparts.
“There are a variety of complicated factors that start at a young age,” said Mary Beth Laychak, outreach program manager at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. “But I think it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment you lose girls. But there are a variety of things, big and small, that pull women away.”
The teens participating in this week’s STARS workshop all had future plans to work in STEM. Kurtistown-based Lily Leyva, 17, said she wanted to intern at PISCES and eventually work in aerospace engineering at California-based SpaceX.
Allison Dupre, 17, said she’s interested in working someday in a science field.
“I’m really interested in just learning about science and how it all works,” Dupre said.
“Especially space which we don’t know a lot about. So this is improving our education on it and being able to expand our knowledge of it all. And it’s just really inspiring.”