Amelia Colombo watches as teammate Kelly Baran prepares a paper airplane for a flight demonstration. Photo: Dortha Cool Willetts.
STEM: Why So Few Women?
MIDDLETOWN - Why are there so few women in math, science, engineering and technology careers? A panel at a meeting of the American Association of University Women March 19 at Russell Library set out to address the question.

       Barbara Arafeh, co-president of the Middlesex County AAUW, opened the meeting by reading from a recent AAUW report that suggests compelling evidence to explain why so few women enter the fields of math, science, engineering and technology.

       The report cites environmental and social barriers, including stereotyping, gender bias and the climate in science and engineering departments in colleges and universities. The report also includes up-to-date statistics of achievements and participation of women and girls in these and other areas and gives new ideas for opening up science and engineering fields to girls and women.

       Arafeh, introduced the panel: Roberto Ortiz, principal of Keigwin Middle School; Dr. Michelle Kraczkowski, a graduate student of Middlesex Community College and an assistant professor and Biotechnology Program Coordinator at the college; and Amelia Colombo and Kelly Baran, sixth-graders at Keigwin Middle School in Middletown.

       Ortiz said that the girls and he were thrilled to talk about their STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Math program, which is in its first year at Keigwin.

       â€"As I was listening to [Arafeh’s] introduction, I realized how important it is for kids, especially girls, to have the opportunities to get their hands on science materials and to have experiences that lead to their involvement in the STEM areas,” said Ortiz. â€"This is important for preparing girls for 21st century careers in which they have to incorporate STEM skills.”

       Ortiz observed that when girls have those opportunities, they are really passionate about the technical skills and engage in conversations with their male counterparts and enrich those conversations.

       â€"What we see in the schools is that girls are as capable as their male counterparts,” he added. â€"So, we are very excited to have Amelia and Kelly with us today to make presentations which will demonstrate their skills.”

       Both girls are members of the Robotics Club at Keigwin, which meets after school. Ortiz said that the girls have made great progress in the club, which is led by John Sullivan. There are also STEM classes at Woodrow Wilson Middle School and at MacDonough Elementary School.

       â€"Instead of studying the four subjects in isolation with their concepts and skills separated from each other, Robotics and STEM courses allow for learning experiences that incorporate skills from all those areas on one assignment so that the students have more meaningful experiences when the assignments are more related to the real world,” said Ortiz. â€"What they learn stays with them long past the classroom years.”

       Ortiz added that the students also learn how to put their minds together, talk about their results and negotiate and compromise to find better solutions to a problem. He gave an example of a brainstorming activity Sullivan does in his classroom in which the students are going in a spaceship to a space station. They must bring certain equipment to their jobs. First, they read the manual. Then, not only must they decide on which equipment to bring, but they must decide on the cost of the equipment.

       â€"So, you have these three or four kids, 11 and 12 years old, making these really significant decisions,” said Ortiz. â€"They decide if something would be useful or not and if they would have to alter it in some way.”

       After finishing their plans, the teacher announces, â€"There have been some changes. You now have budget cuts.”

       So, the teams must readjust their plans.

       The theme of the STEM class in sixth grade is aeronautics. The class watches videos about the Wright Brothers and the flight of birds. The students study drag, lift, air resistance and other principles of aerodynamics. Then their mission is to design and make paper planes that will fly a certain distance and turn in certain directions. They had to put a penny weight on a plane to see which placement on the plane would give it the best flight. Then they created other planes with rudders, elevators and flaps. As they worked, they learned about airflow and the effect on the flaps in class.

       Baran demonstrated several models of planes she and Colombo designed for the audience. The specifications for one plane were for it to fly 10 feet forward, then turn right. The plane did just that. The girls recorded their data on the computer. She said they also created a wooden model during the end of their second trimester.

       Next, the girls gave a demonstration of their Robotics Club robot. Their robot was able to turn and back up to avoid obstacles. The students used a software program and a â€"brick,” which was connected to the computer with a USB; this became the ‘brain’ of the computer. Legos were used to build the body of the robot, but various â€"blocks” were chosen by the girls to make the robot move forward and turn 100 degrees and 70 degrees. They determined what movements they wanted to integrate into the robot and built it according to a printout of the design they made on the computer. They named their robot and the program â€"Wink-wink.”

       â€"When you click the program,” said Colombo, â€"the robot does what you want it to do.”

       Kraczkowski said she was very happy to be at the meeting and to see the girls’ presentation and encouraged them to stay motivated to go on to college. She distributed several brochures about programs that are offered at Middlesex Community College, some of which are biotechnology, engineering science, environmental science and computer engineering technology.

       Kraczkowski answered a question from the audience about whether STEM courses were a focus of Middlesex.

       â€"I’m not sure about a focus, but we celebrate it,” she said. â€"And, right now, in terms of jobs and workforce, the state has a focus on it, especially biosciences, with programs to try to attract more business with Jackson Laboratory and Mount Sinai.”

       Kraczkowski said Middlesex has added a new engineering program and a veterinary technology program.

       Kraczkowski addressed Colombo and Baran, saying, â€"One thing I have to say for you ladies is that I am impressed by your confidence. If girls going into science take a back seat to the guys and are afraid to speak out, you have to get your confidence up enough to compete. I am glad to see the development of that confidence so early in both of you. You should challenge your mentors, ask them to teach you more.”

       The girls said they would continue to stay in robotics. Colombo said she was interested in neuroscience. Both girls had inspiration from others. Baran had a fourth grade teacher who loved to teach sciences and also drew inspiration from her 22-year-old brother, who is a neuroscientist. Colombo said her father is a geologist who brought home stories about his work.

       A member of the audience added, â€"Businesses are looking for people who have STEM-type skills and there will be more job offers and better pay than the traditional jobs women have had in the past, such as teaching, nursing and secretarial work. You will be preparing yourself for the workforce of the future and making Connecticut’s future brighter. We need to have STEM people graduate and stay here. You are a great potential for Connecticut’s future.”
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