Wednesday: How to get more middle-school girls into STEM

To get a larger representation of women in tech, work should start in connecting girls to STEM.

Strengthening the tie between middle-school girls and STEM education has been for years the core mission of orgs like TechGirlz. And Wednesday evening, at Tonic Design’s Center City offices, a lineup of speakers — including the nonprofit’s outreach coordinator — will discuss ways to nurture girls’ interest in STEM.

Here’s the lineup:

• Patience Elliott, student at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber
• Kiersten Bond, student at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber
• Miriam Peskowitz, author of The Daring Book for Girls (and newbie hackathon-goer!)
• Nefertiti Stanford, IBM
• Danica Pascavage, TechGirlz
• Missy Wedig, AViewFromMySeat.com

The free event is organized by Girls Rock In Tech PHL (GRIT_PHL), a tech mentorship program for 5th- and 6th-grade girls.

“Fifty percent of girls who were once interested in STEM choose not to follow these subjects once they reach middle school,” said the org’s cofounder Jennifer Torre. “That loss is immeasurable on multiple levels: Students miss out on a potential career in tech, the highest paying job sector that currently exists. The tech industry loses because it lacks access to more than 50 percent of a potential talent pool.”