Inaugural Career Expo

For her Gold Award project, Alyssa Anderson, current founder and CEO of STEMuses, wanted to plan an event that would ensure that girls between the 5th and 8th grades maintained their curiosity and natural interest in topics in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Recent research and data shows that girls in these grades lose interest in math and the sciences and thus are not pursuing STEM academic or professional careers at the same rates as boys. So, in order to achieve her goal, Alyssa created the nonprofit STEMuses to help her create the lasting change she desired. As a result, for both her gold award project and to kickoff her new nonprofit, she hosted the STEMuses Career Expo which showcased to middle school girls numerous possible career opportunities available for them in the future.  

Through this career expo, we were able to gather 13 executive women across a variety of STEM professions such as radiation oncology, engineering, chemistry, patent law, food science, and much more. This career expo hosted around 30 Dallas area middle school girls who were all initially interested in STEM. All of the girls who attended were very engaged and attentive when listening and talking with the professional women. They were eager to ask questions and were generally curious about STEM. The event included a keynote speaker who is the current CIO at McKesson, a panel of 4 impressive women, and various interactive round table discussions with the remaining women. During these discussions, there were specific STEM activities related to each woman’s profession. By sharing their own experiences and giving advice to the girls, the women were able to create a judge-free zone for the girls to ask as many questions as they wanted without fear of being judged or ridiculed. These girls now have knowledge of different STEM careers that they could pursue, and this information will stay with them throughout their future school years. So, the next time they think about giving up on STEM, they can reflect on their experience at my STEM career expo and remember why they personally love science, technology, engineering, and math, and that they have multiple people who support them in their journey.