Anderson@Large

STEM Everywhere

A new report by the Brookings Institution found that STEM is, well, everywhere. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.

Some key findings:

• Workers in STEM fields play a direct role in driving economic growth. And it’s not just jobs in the innovation economy. As of 2011, 26 million U.S. jobs require a high level of knowledge in any one STEM field. The “hidden” STEM economy represents 20 percent of all jobs.
• Half of all STEM jobs are available to workers without a four-year college degree, and these jobs pay $53,000 on average.
• Half of all STEM jobs are in manufacturing, health care, or construction industries.
• Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations constitute 12 percent of all STEM jobs, one of the largest occupational categories. Other blue-collar or technical jobs in fields such as construction and production also frequently demand STEM knowledge.

Read more: The Hidden STEM Economy

Meet a STEM Superstar: Lisette Titre

 

Obama on Coding is Fundamental

 

National Women of Power Summit 2013

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Black Women’s Roundtable will host its 2nd Annual National Women of Power Summit, “Amplifying the Voices of Women and Girls in the Digital Age.”

The summit will bring together a diverse group of women leaders and emerging leaders from across the country. On Day One, they will make the rounds of Capitol Hill and meet with members of Congress. Melanie L. Campbell, convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable and president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, said:

We’re coming together in the nation’s capitol to leverage our vote. In 2012, black women were the highest vote for President Obama and the margin of victory for many in the U.S. Congress. We want to tell our elected officials what we want, which includes ending the sequestration now and becoming a functional government working in the interest of the people.

On Day Two at the Faith and Social Justice Prayer Breakfast, I will receive the BWR Social Innovation Award.

It is an incredible honor to be recognized before a room full of fierce women. I hope you will be able to join us for a power-packed celebration of difference-makers and tree-shakers.

To register, go here. For more information, call (202) 659-4929.

Lady Hackers Kick off Women’s History Month

It’s called the City of Brotherly Love (and Sisterly Affection) but last weekend’s Lady Hacks was for women only.

Philadelphia’s first women-only hackathon attracted 65 hackers. Tristen Hightower, an organizer of the event, said:

The point of this event is to try new things. You’re already successful. You’re here.

And while there, the ladies worked on a wide range of projects, including Hacking the Gender Gap, redesigning the website of Girls Rock Phillyto make it more teen-oriented, and developing a game to motivate girls to get interested in technology.

My team worked on a project that began at TechCamp Philadelphia, namely, how to motivate underrepresented minorities and girls to pursue STEM fields. STEM is short for science, technology, engineering and math.

My team members are Elise D, Jennifer Fazler, Jessica Hammond and Eleni Miltsakaki. Our mentor is Pamela Bey, a WordPress developer.

The problem we addressed was the lack of a central, user-friendly website for teachers, students and parents to find free resources and tools that would expand and enhance the learning process. Right now, STEM information is buried in silos. Our solution, STEMeverywhere, will fix that.

We will curate resources for students, parents, teachers, guidance counselors and community members. The one-stop shop will feature a Teachers’ Lounge where we will aggregate content-specific instructional materials that have been peer-reviewed. We will include a real-time, fully indexed library that will be searchable by keyword.

The Students’ Hangout will promote year-round learning and engagement for our target audience of 13-to-17-year-olds. With one click, students will have access to information about internships and mentorships, learning games, contests and challenges, and online learning opportunities.

STEMeverywhere will produce interactive videos to connect students with STEM professionals who can expose them to the possibilities. We will post engaging user-generated YouTube videos tagged “STEM Rocks” or “STEMRocks.”

We will also curate offline activities such as Web Slam!, Bootstrap, Operation Eve, Black Girls Code and Temple University’s Urban Apps and Maps.

Lady hackers’ work is never done. To join us, send an email. For updates, follow us on Twitter: @STEMeverywhere.

Philadelphia #LadyHacks: A Hackathon for Women

Today is the first day of Women’s History Month. I will get the party started at LadyHacks, a women-only hackathon.

While I have participated in a lot of hackathons [], I’m looking forward to being in a room full of lady problem-solvers. So if you pass by WHYY and hear some noise, it ain’t the boys. It’s #LadyHacks.

Coding Is Fundamental