‘We know that exposure early creates impact’
Girls Inc. of Chicago does its part in getting girls into STEM careers
Chenille Lawrence,
18, is making plans to work in technology. The Bronzeville resident is majoring in computer science at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
“I always knew I wanted to do something in STEM, but I wasn’t exactly sure what,” said the sophomore.
It was her involvement with Girls Inc. of Chicago, a local arm of a national nonprofit that offers experiences that inspire and equip girls to be smart and bold enough to overcome challenges such as gender, economic and social barriers, that gave her that clarity for a career in STEM.
Lawrence, an alumna of the local chapter, encountered the organization while in engineering class at her high school, Perspectives Math and Science Academy on the South Side.
While there, Lawrence became a part of Girls Inc.’s Bold Girl’s Society — a program focused on high school girls learning advocacy, leadership and finding their voice.
Partnering with Allergan Aesthetic, the programming in the Chicago-based girl-centered organization includes summer camps, workshops, field trips and one-on-one conversations with female STEM professionals. Workshops have been virtual since the pandemic began, wherein youth get access to physicians and STEM professionals who volunteer to share their experiences and talk career planning in STEM-related fields.
Lawrence recalls sitting
in on a workshop of female physicians sharing their journeys.
“For me, it was very impactful,” she said. “Seeing these women being so successful in their fields encouraged me.”
“We talk about what it means to navigate a STEM career or pivot at certain stages as women in these spaces that are often considered male-dominated,” said Carol Sharp, director of programs at Girls Inc. of Chicago.
“These are girls who have an interest in learning more about leadership and advocacy in various forms. As a part of the programming, we do that career exploration very intentionally, and that is where the Allergan experience is most meaningful because girls get an opportunity to learn about the various careers that exist in the medical field, in companies in general, that work in this particular sector.”
Empowering Confidence workshops were held virtually this fall for 25 high school students in Chicago, New York, Houston and Atlanta to provide tips and tools they need to feel empowered looking toward their STEM goals. Sessions emphasized the importance of mental health and mentorship.
Sharp recommends getting in touch with Girls Inc. of Chicago to enroll or register to participate for future workshops.
“We have various programs aligned to our mission of empowering girls to be strong, smart and bold, that includes healthy living — mentally, physically and emotionally,” she said. “Smart is academic achievement, exposure to male-dominated fields, exposure to STEM, and bold is life-skills development, teaching things such as economic literacy, media literacy and really helping them to increase their
voices as women in the world.”
The Chicago affiliate of Girls Inc. began in 2017, the same year Sharp began with the organization. For an organization that recruits mainly through social media platforms, the growth has been steady.
Since the local affiliate’s inception, the organization went from serving 60 girls to now serving over 800 girls annually, according to Sharp. A native of Chicago and first-generation college graduate, Sharp understands those external factors that can affect a girl’s ability to achieve.
“I use that personal passion, coupled with education, knowledge and skills, and bring that to my work and what we’re able to provide them with,” she said. “Particularly when we think about the limitations, that’s oftentimes part of the challenge with our girls and youth in general: being able to believe that they can
achieve more than what they see.”
Youth can begin Girls Inc. programming as young as kindergarten and continue through college completion. At the lowergrade levels, the organization partners with the school directly for early exposure to STEM during school hours or in after-school programming. When Girls Inc. of Chicago students transition to college, the organization matches them with a mentor who correlates to their interests and/ or major, provides them scholarship funds and hosts workshops with them while they’re in college.
Lawrence, part of the first Bold Girl’s Society cohort, took advantage of all of that. In return, each year members of the group have to submit information about how their college experience is going. That information is subsequently used to determine the level of support that Girls Inc. can provide to the girls to make sure they feel as if they have access to the organization while they’re on campus.
College students also join in on working summer camps with younger Girls Inc. members. Activities in the past have included working with drones and programming robots.
“We know that exposure early creates impact,” Sharp said. “It’s hands-on and (it is) helping the girls to think about these subjects differently and understanding that there’s a way for you to have this experiential learning opportunity and gain some knowledge and skills in science, in a way that’s not as similar to like a traditional classroom format.”
Girls Inc. of Chicago’s outreach model is free for any Chicago girl, regardless of what type of school she attends. Sharp says the South Loop-based organization measures success as girls graduating with a degree in a STEM-related field and being able to transition into a STEM-related career.
For Lawrence, she’s set her sights on a career in software engineering or cloud computing. And she wants to remain involved with Girls, Inc.
“It provides a different perspective of female success,” she said. “Here are some women, they are successful in their careers. And their careers involve something that is technical. I feel like a lot of times, that’s a trope that we don’t usually see in the media or just in society as a whole.”