Girls in Science as a Pipeline to STEM

Children as young as six believe boys like STEM subjects, including engineering and computer science, more than girls. A 2021 study by the University of Houston and the University of Washington found that 63% of the study’s 2,500 1st to 12th-grade participants believe girls are less interested in engineering than boys. This translates to how girls and women manifest their future careers. This is evidenced by the fact that despite women making up half of the US workforce, only 27% of scientists are women, which must be celebrated to some extent as it represents a three-fold increase from 1970. Computer science and engineering jobs, in particular, have low involvement by women, at just 25% and 15%.

The lack of role models is a distinct barrier, as are the pervasive gender stereotypes that women are not as intellectually capable in STEM subjects as men. These stereotypes present themselves early in a woman’s education and can affect how a girl visualizes her ability, understanding, and even her future in science. Gender-based visuals, language, teaching methods, and teachers’ attitudes further reinforce the stereotypes.

A woman’s experience in STEM is not the same as her male counterpart; she is more likely to experience self-doubt influencing her academic performance. Such self-perceptions can have cascading effects on motivation, participation, and confidence. This pattern persists in higher education and has an insidious effect on women pursuing scientific studies and careers, and it all starts with how science and STEM are taught early in a child’s education. By middle school, girls begin to academically fall behind boys in science due to this gender bias.  

Walking Mountains developed the Girls in Science program to address these biases and help girls envision themselves as mathematicians, technologists, engineers, and scientists- and help the people around them to envision it, too. Girls in Science introduces girls to female role models working in STEM and helps them build a support network and community of like-minded girls. 

Girls in Science is a tuition-free after-school science enrichment program for girls in the Eagle County School District (ECSD) in 3rd through 5th grade. The purpose of the program is to foster a love of learning in STEM subjects and empower young women, particularly underrepresented young women, to take an interest in STEM fields of study.

Throughout the academic year, groups meet weekly at ECSD’s nine public elementary schools for an hour and a half to explore STEM-focused units along with outdoor exploration days, guest speaker presentations, women in science introductions, and an end-of-year science fair. Our approach to STEM education equips women with the skills and knowledge to pursue STEM studies by having them engage directly with STEM topics, but more importantly, we empower them to see themselves as scientists, inventors, engineers, mathematicians, and leaders.

Throughout the academic year, girls engage in lessons expanding on what they learned in school, are introduced to new concepts, and are encouraged to explore their individual areas of interest. During each lesson, students explore a scientific topic by completing an experiment or activity that allows them to gain a hands-on understanding of a concept.

While Girls in Science is an annual program, the overall curriculum spans the course of three years, and students are encouraged to re-enroll each academic year. This ensures that student knowledge grows upon previously learned topics and that no student is repeating a subject they may have learned previously.

Walking Mountains strives to retain participants after they age out of Girls in Science by offering after-school STEM programs to all middle and high school students. Girls in Science (GIS) participants that continue in the program are positioned as leaders by encouraging them to lead lessons. Girls In Science is the first of three programs under our larger STEM Continuum program designed to keep students fully engaged in STEM studies throughout their academic careers.

Girls in Science is offered tuition-free to girls in Eagle County schools. Currently, 150+ girls participate annually, and we aim to return to our pre-pandemic enrollment of 225 girls. We strive to reach girls from historically underrepresented groups. Typically 38% of participants identify as Hispanic and 17% as English Language Learners. 

According to the US Census Bureau, 29.3% of Eagle County, Colorado’s local year-round population identifies as Latinx, which is well above the state (19%) and national (22%) average, and 25.8% speak a language other than English at home (compared to 16.3% in Colorado and 21.7% in the US). 10% of households in Eagle County live at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which is misleading as 90% of families above the FPL cannot meet their basic needs due to the high cost of living in our resort economy. An extreme housing shortage forces most Eagle County families to spend more than 30% of their income on housing while earning less than the Federal Self-Sufficiency Standard.

The Girls In Science Coordinator actively evaluates the program. We administer unit assessments before and after a new unit, analyzing changes in a student’s comprehension. Instructors conduct assessments to understand students’ attitudes toward STEM topics and their interest in STEM studies at the beginning and conclusion of the program. This data is reviewed during programming—October to April—and more comprehensively in the summer to inform the project team of any needed updates.

Our curriculum is updated annually based on student evaluations, trends in STEM, research, and changes to state or district standards.

Walking Mountains Science Center (WMSC) was founded in Eagle County in 1998 and remains the primary provider of STEM-focused programming outside school. We operate three different locations, all within Eagle County, including our offices, which are centrally located in Eagle County, in the town of Avon. Our employees live locally and engage within the community in and outside of work. 

Lara Carlson, the team lead for the Challenge, has worked at WMSC since 2003. She created the Girls in Science program 16 years ago and was its first educator. Since its creation, Lara has worked with local teachers, participants, and the community to develop the program into what it is today. 

WMSC gains an understanding of the needs of the community through our close partnerships and trusted relationships. We conduct a community survey that provides ongoing input on current programs and services and how those can be improved.  Additionally, we ask community members and partners what needs and issues exist and how we can help address them. Walking Mountains continues to be a convenor, identifying community needs and serving as a regional resource. 

The Girls in Science program is reviewed and updated annually based on participant feedback. More details are provided on this in the previous question. 

150 girls (pre-COVID enrollment was 225 girls)

We are proud that Girls In Science has expanded over its 16-year history to reach more girls in additional communities within our school district. The Challenge would support our objective to retain the Girls In Science participants as they transition from elementary to middle school and beyond. Many of the girls in the STEM Curiosity Lab (our middle school STEM program) were Girls In Science participants. Still, not all Girls In Science participants continue participating in middle school. We think the Challenge can help us to change that. The Challenge’s workshops and cohort sessions will help Walking Mountains to learn from the experiences of others in the Challenge and will provide an opportunity to brainstorm ideas with like-minded leaders in STEM. This peer-to-peer network will be instrumental in our ability to create a dynamic and effective STEM program that girls clamor to join and continue participating in all the way through high school.

Lara Carlson is the Senior Programs Director at Walking Mountains and has worked at Walking Mountains since 2003 in various programmatic roles. Lara loves teaching programs for both kids and adults, as well as teaching and mentoring others in developing their teaching and interpretive skills. Lara earned her B.S. in Outdoor Education from Northland College,  M.A. in Environmental Studies from Prescott College, M.P.A. focused in Nonprofit Administration from the University of Montana, and holds a Colorado Elementary Education teaching license. Lara is a Certified Master Environmental Educator through Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education and a Certified Interpretive Guide and Certified Interpretive Trainer through National Association for Interpretation. 

Many other STEM programs function as short-term summer camps for girls or as a unit at school. Such programs provide great exposure to the topics but don’t provide the opportunity to delve into the subject matter or gain confidence in it. Girls In Science is different as it provides regular engagement for girls prior to middle school when gender biases begin influencing girls’ academic performance in science-related subjects. Girls can (and often do) participate in Girls In Science weekly for three years (3rd-5th grades). As they participate in the program, they build a network with other girls excited about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. They talk outside the program about their experiments and the end-of-year science fair. 

Girls that continue on to the STEM Curiosity Lab have often taken on a natural leadership position within the group as they understand the language and many of the processes used within the experiments, etc. This helps to flip the paradigm, positioning girls as the leaders within STEM from the outset of the middle school program. 

We hope this shift will carry through into the classrooms as boys and girls alike begin to see girls, including those from underrepresented populations, as leaders or “the kids with the answers” to the more challenging STEM-related questions. The Girls In Science participants will have the tools and understanding to dig into the topic and find solutions to complex STEM challenges well beyond their time in the program.

In 2024, the Girls In Science program will: 

• Increase the number of girls enrolled annually to 225. 

• Retain 60% of participants from year to year.

By 2029, Girls In Science will: 

• Increase the number of Eagle County female students studying STEM-related subjects in middle and high school.

• Increase the number of participating minority students to reflect each school’s demographics.

• Improve school district-wide female student achievement on science and math assessments.

• Reduce the achievement gap in science and math for underserved populations in the Valley.

With additional funding, Walking Mountains will retain more girls in the STEM continuum. As the girls are exposed to additional STEM topics, their knowledge in the sciences and math will expand, helping their assessment scores improve in these topic areas. Additionally, Walking Mountains will utilize what we learn through the MIT Solve Challenge to further improve retention rates in the program as the participants age out of Girls In Science.

Walking Mountains tracks participation numbers and demographics in all of its programs, including Girls In Science. We also track individuals within our programs to measure retention. Assessment test results for the school district will be reviewed annually to capture overall student achievement by gender and by race/ethnicity in science and math in an effort to see improvements in the test scores of underrepresented populations. 

Girls In Science makes STEM subjects not just fun but approachable. This encourages girls to enroll as early as possible (third grade). As the girls’ exposure to the subject matter grows, so does their understanding and confidence with STEM subjects. With their increasing knowledge and confidence, the desire to dive deeper into the STEM topic areas increases as well, keeping the girls coming back for more. As the word spreads about the program, enrollment and retention rates will increase (short-term outcomes). As they continue to participate, the girls’ growing abilities in STEM topics will lead to improved test scores, reduced achievement gaps, and increased numbers of underrepresented populations enrolling in STEM-related high school courses (long-term outcomes).

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The Girls in Science program is supported by a staff of 1 full-time and 3 part-time employees.

Girls in Science was piloted in 2007, making it 16 years old.

In 2019, Walking Mountains' entire staff participated in JEDI training, establishing a dedicated internal JEDI Committee. Several examples of strategies we have implemented are

• Formalizing and adopting a statement on equity, inclusion, and cultural relevance to guide the organization

• Incorporating JEDI strategies within our Organization Strategic Plan

• Eliminating tuition for field science programs

Additionally, Walking Mountains initiated a community-wide effort to address environmental privilege and barriers some populations experience in accessing the outdoors. From this, we formed the Eagle Valley Outdoor Movement (EVOM), which has reached 3,000 youth through 245 outdoor programs and nine outdoor leadership interns. The bi-lingual program has also created six new outdoor spaces to reduce barriers, such as access, transportation, and perceptions of risk. EVOM aims to break down these barriers through collaborative partnerships, creating nearby safe outdoor spaces, providing fun and engaging youth and family programs, and helping individuals experience the lifelong benefits of spending time in the outdoors.

Walking Mountains Science Center is a nonprofit 501c3 organization with a mission to awaken a sense of wonder and inspire environmental stewardship and sustainability through natural science education. What began in 1998 as a small natural science school with modest educational offerings has grown to become a regional resource for environmental education, stewardship, and sustainability in the Eagle River Valley of Colorado. With twenty-five years of service to the community, Walking Mountains is an educational resource, offering year-round programming to over 5,000 students in our youth programs. In addition, the organization serves 60,000 residents and visitors through outdoor adult and family programs. Including the Sustainability program’s reach of serving 100,000 people, we have a total annual reach of 169,000 people. 

As a well-established nonprofit organization, Walking Mountains raises funds from a blend of individual and business donors, events, fee-for-service, and grants from government, corporations, and foundations to maintain our annual budget of $4,647,921. Girls In Science is included in the organizational budget and benefits from unrestricted funding. Additionally, Girls In Science applies for restricted grant funding annually. 

Girls In Science has received funding from the following sources in the past: Scrooby Foundation, Women’s Foundation of Colorado, United Way of the Eagle River Valley, Adolph Coors Foundation, Harvey Family Foundation, Herman Family Foundation, and more.

Walking Mountains has received grant funding from the Great Outdoors Colorado, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Health Foundation, National Forest Foundation, Vail Resorts Epic Promise, George Family Foundation, Frechette Family Foundation, and many more.