At the Science Club for Girls, members have a mission: involve as many young girls as possible in Stem.
Science Club for Girls, or SCFG, is a non -profit national organization that works with primary, college and secondary students and has chapters in colleges across the country. SCFG strives to combat diversity gaps in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in particular with black and Latin women and those growing up in under-represented communities. The organization works to help girls find the joy of science and the experiment with the world around them.
Sex and racial disparities in STEM fields remain an important challenge, women representing less than 29% of STEM workforce and black and Latin women representing less than 4%, according to the SCFG national website. These statistics highlight systemic obstacles such as lack of access to quality STEM education, the under-representation of leadership roles and implicit biases that discourage women from continuing and staying in STEM careers. Limited mentoring possibilities, financial constraints and cultural stereotypes aggravate the gap, according to the SCFG website. Northeastern’s SCFG chapter strives to fight this thanks to mentoring and an increase in STEM education for girls.
This is only recently the number of Women admitted to engineering college are more numerous than men to the northeast. Since 2021, there has been a Significant increase in the number of women in STEMA trend that SCFG hopes to continue by increasing the participation of STEMs for elementary and intermediate girls.
The northeast chapter of the club works with seven local colleges near the Boston campus in Northeastern and in the Cambridge region. The club has worked with thousands of children in the region, having weekly experiences and helping girls to learn to love science.
The club is led by a passionate executive committee, which all have different history but are deeply invested in the mentoring of young girls in science.
“I thought that (SCFG) would be a really easy opportunity to get hours of volunteer and make a huge difference with K-8 children”, ” said Audrey Lessing, a major third-year health sciences and president of the northeast chapter of SCFG. “And (the national organization) provides all the materials and everything, so it seemed super fun.”
Kavya Iyer, vice-president of the SCFG in Northeastern and a major in third year biochemistry, joined the club in the fall Fest in his first year at the university in order to get involved in STEM outside the classroom .
“I always really liked working with children, so I wanted to disseminate my passion for science by working with scientific projects and helping to bring young girls into STEM fields and excite them for science,” said Iyer.
Each week, club members conduct practical experiences with students, which mentors and mentors appreciate.
Recently, experiences have included a conventional chemical reaction experience with baking soda and vinegar volcanoes. Club members generally spend an hour with children twice a month, said Abigail Damasio, a major in biology and coordinator of volunteer events for SCFG in Northeastern.
“We did (two experiences) per month,” said Damasio, with a debriefing meeting before and after each experience for mentors. The debrief helps mentors understand the impact they have and helps to form the community within the club.
“At least in my group, (students) really like to do their scientific reviews at the end, and this is where they can remember what they have just learned and (then) share with their parents , their dogs, their brothers and sisters, everyone in the family, can get involved even if it is only a child of the club, “said Iyer.
One of the most rewarding aspects for mentors is to see the students progress in SCFG and finally become junior mentors themselves.
“Many of these girls also end up becoming mentors and junior mentors later, then entering in Stem, so it’s really cool to be part of this trip”, ” Said Lessing.