As part of the association’s ongoing advocacy efforts and overall public policy agenda, SWE Executive Director and CEO Karen Horting participated in two events honoring International Day of Women and Girls in STEM in February, addressing the challenges to STEM education and workforce under a new administration.
SHPE Fireside Chat Celebrating Women and Girls in STEM
Held online on Feb. 11 by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), this virtual fireside chat brought together STEM professional organizations’ leaders to explore opportunities in the 119th Congress to advance women and girls in STEM. Congresswoman Luz Rivas (CA29) was the guest of honor, and the panel included Horting, National Society of Black Engineers’ (NSBE) Chief of Programs and Membership Dr. Tiffini Andorful, American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s (AISES) CEO Sarah Echohawk, and SHPE’s CEO Suzanna Valdez Wolfe.
More than 300 attendees attended the chat, where Congresswoman Rivas spoke candidly about her background as an electrical engineer, becoming a member of the U.S. Congress, and driving progress for access to STEM education and workforce development.
Horting provided insights on the status of women in the STEM workforce, including math and science performance in young girls, retention rates in STEM and areas of opportunity, and the wage gap between Black, Hispanic, and Native women in STEM and their male colleagues. Some of these observations are included in the latest State of Women in Engineering issue published by SWE.
“These are long-time partners of SWE as it relates to supporting women and underrepresented minorities in engineering. On International Day of Women and Girls in STEM, it was important that we unite to share the message,” Horting said.
A Q&A session followed, during which panelists shared their thoughts on how women in Congress could play an important role in building a more diverse and resilient STEM ecosystem and what they envisioned as the key focus this Congress must have to lead to higher engagement of women in the STEM workforce. Members from each organization participated in the Q&A. Jenny Tsao, lead of the SWE Public Policy Affinity Group, represented SWE. The chat closed with each speaker sharing their takeaways and possible next steps, ensuring the day’s discussion was geared toward actionable impact.
SWE thanks Congresswoman Rivas and all the partner panelists and organizations for representing their communities and engaging in conversation and critical next steps to attract, recruit, and retain more women in STEM.
STEM Education Coalition STEM Education 101 Briefing for New Congress
The STEM Education Coalition hosted an in-person briefing on Feb. 12 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., to discuss the many issues affecting STEM education under the new administration and Congress. This briefing highlighted K-12, higher education, CTE, informal and afterschool, diversity and workforce issues that affect STEM education, and the work of the 119th Congress addressing challenges such as access and opportunity gaps to high-quality STEM learning and training.
Panelists included Horting, STEM Education Coalition’s Executive Director James Brown, American Nuclear Society’s Senior Manager of STEM Programs Uchenna Ezibe, Afterschool Alliance’s Afterschool STEM Hub Manager Leslie Brooks, Mathematical Society of America’s Director of Outreach and Impact Catherine Paolucci, and Jeff Weld, former assistant director for STEM Education, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Trump 45, senior policy advisor, STEM Education Coalition.
“This is where strength in numbers is important. We’re part of the coalition because we can do more together,” said Horting, who is also on the Board of Directors. “When the new Congress comes in, we do a STEM 101 so that their staff understand what the issues are, the areas where we can provide support and subject matter expertise, and what’s happening both in STEM education and the STEM workforce.”
Horting presented research on the STEM workforce, including the increasing employment opportunities available in STEM fields. She also shared research on the gaps in girls intending to major in STEM, women who are awarded science and engineering degrees, and recruiting and retaining women engineers in the workforce — highlighting that more women in the STEM workforce drives a country’s GDP growth and maintains its global competitiveness while diversity, equity, and inclusion help close the gap between talent and opportunity. Additional research can be found at research.swe.org.
Other speakers at the briefing touched upon the challenges experienced by today’s science educators, access to high-quality mathematics education, and the role of afterschool programs in the STEM learning ecosystem.
Take Action
Learn more about SWE’s public policy initiatives or consider joining SWE’s Public Policy Affinity Group. For those interested in advocating locally, whether at the federal level or state level, SWE offers training and resources on the Advanced Learning Center.
