3.1 Encouraging Young Women to Pursue STEM Fields: GiRLS GLOW

Monday, 8 January 2018: 2:00 PM
Ballroom C (ACC) (Austin, Texas)
Cynthia K. Palmer, NOAA/NWS, Shreveport, LA; and B. Hughes, L. Frantz-May, W. Parker, M. Valverde, and F. Bowser

Women make up nearly half of our country’s workforce. However, women only comprise about 25 percent of those employed in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers. The percentage is even less when you look specifically at the National Weather Service (NWS), where approximately 20 percent of the meteorologists and hydrologists are women. Therefore, the Shreveport Weather Forecast Office (WFO) planned and executed two versions of Girls Really Love Science, Girls LOve Weather (GiRLS GLOW) Open House to honor and celebrate Women’s History Month. Our inaugural GiRLS GLOW event in March 2015 focused specifically on encouraging girls and young women to pursue interests and careers in meteorology, hydrology, emergency management, and coding. In March 2017, NWS Shreveport expanded the GiRLS GLOW open house (GiRLS GLOW 2.0) to include all STEM fields, partnering with local, state, and federal agencies as well as collegiate, private and nonprofit entities to make our 2.0 version a regional event to remember.

This presentation will give guidance and suggestions on how to recreate a GiRLS GLOW event for anyone wanting to encourage young budding scientists.

- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award Winner