Aspiring STEM Professionals Promoting Gender Equity in STEM (2024-2025)
This project explored whether preparation for bias can help reduce the gender gap in STEM by building awareness of systemic barriers, developing practical response strategies and fostering pride in STEM identities. The 2024-2025 team implemented a three-part curriculum for undergraduate and graduate students, focusing on bias literacy, bias response skills and empowerment through the recognition of women’s contributions in STEM. The team also expanded its work on documenting women’s accomplishments in STEM through Wikipedia and continued its summer math workshops for middle school girls.
Team members applied the curriculum by creating new Wikipedia biographies of overlooked women in STEM, contributing to WikiProject Women in Red, a group of Wikipedia editors working together to close the Wikipedia gender gap. Articles were drafted and published on figures such as Ann Orel, Margaret Miles and Francine Benes, helping to address gender disparities in online representation. In addition, students conducted two research studies: one analyzing survey data from middle school workshops, which showed gains in both math performance and self-confidence among participants, and another developing an interview protocol to assess how preparation for bias influences women’s long-term experiences in STEM.
The team also hosted a 10-day summer program for middle school girls, featuring daily math challenges, lab visits with female faculty and interactive Q&A sessions. These workshops not only improved participants’ skills but also provided them with relatable role models in STEM fields. Taken together, the project advanced research on preparation for bias while directly supporting the visibility, confidence and representation of women in STEM at multiple educational stages.
Timing
Fall 2024 – Summer 2025
Team Outputs
Assessing and Improving Girls’ and Women’s Math and STEM Identity (Poster presentation at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 16, 2025)
Wikipedia posts
Wikipedia Biography posts: Ann Orel, Margaret Miles, and Francine Benes
Summer workshops for middle school girls
See earlier related team, Assessing and Improving Girls' and Women's Math Identity (2023-2024).
Image: Participating middle schoolers (GEMs) creating their own Eulerian graphs, by 2022-23 project team