YWSI

Twenty years ago, on June 7, 2000, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) announced the creation of the Young Women's Summer Institute—a summer educational program for middle-school girls in Ohio designed in response to the documented lack of interest in math, science and engineering among girls. This unfortunate situation was translating into the low participation of women in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and in particular, information technology.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, women make up less than one-quarter of those employed in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) occupations in the United States. Not only does this mean that women in STEM remain a disproportionate minority, but it also contributes to STEM field underemployment in the U.S., with not enough properly trained candidates to fill science and technology jobs.

As an educator, I feel that it is important to help young people develop an understanding and appreciation of science and technology. It is also important that all students should be introduced to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers. Yet the U.S. Census Bureau reports that women remain underrepresented in STEM fields, particularly in computer science and engineering occupations. If we are to increase the number of women in STEM fields then we should make sure that girls are given ample opportunities to explore science and technology.

A well-trained science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce is crucial to America’s ability to innovate and compete on a global scale. Yet, “women are vastly underrepresented in STEM jobs and among STEM degree holders despite making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce and half of the college-educated workforce,” according to a 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Entering its fifteenth year, the Young Women’s Summer Institute at the Ohio Supercomputer Center was designed to help address this issue – to interest girls in STEM careers by immersing them in a weeklong, residential camp.