Educational & Career Opportunities to help you reach your goals!

Are you looking for educational or career opportunities to help jumpstart or boost your career? As a young woman, it can be difficult to find opportunities in fields that are male dominated, or to find positions of power or leadership. However, with our help, we can help you find those opportunities and take advantage of them. Here are some resources that may be useful for you!

Summer/Leadership Camps:

1. SWENext High School Leadership Academy (SHLA): SHLA is an engaging online program that hopes to inspire young ladies interested in pursuing engineering through five essential core content tracks: Leadership development, college preparation, STEM pathway opportunities, self-development, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This program also gives you the opportunity to meet and network with engineers, gaining advice and connections. https://swe.org/outreach/high-school-leadership-academy-shla/ 

2. SAGE Camp at SLAC: The SAGE (Science Accelerating Girls’ Engagement) camp at SLAC is a path to helping young women explore exciting careers that impact the world. By gaining exposure to a wide range of careers that make a difference in the world, this camp gives young ladies the opportunity to gain experience in male dominated fields. https://sage.slac.stanford.edu/ 

3. Girls Who Code: Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization that gives young girls the opportunity to gain computer science skills needed to prepare for tech careers. There is a 2 week virtual summer program for highschoolers to learn about coding in live virtual classrooms and a 6 week self-paced program to explore these topics independently. https://girlswhocode.com/programs/summer-immersion-program 

Classes in high school or at the local community college that may be helpful for you, especially in fields that are male dominated or extremely technical:

Besides summer programs, there are other ways young ladies can get involved in these predominantly male dominated fields. Most high schools and community colleges offer classes such as woodshop, engineering, AP physics, and other STEM related classes to students. Although these classes are usually male dominated, they aren’t that scary once you’re in the class and learning something you're interested in. By talking with other females or minorities who have taken classes in fields that are predominantly male, their advice on how to combat imposter syndrome and feelings that you don’t belong can help. Also, if you speak with your teacher or professor, I’m positive you will get the reassurance you need that you belong in that class.

Higher education to gain career opportunities:

Currently in America, the majority of people in college are in fact female. From a study in 2021, 39% of females have completed four years of college while only 36.2% of males have completed four years. Also, the majority of people with doctorates are dominantly females. However, in more specific schools such as trade schools, 98% of the population of undergraduates are male leaving only 2% to be male. Also, only 37% of MD’s in America are female leaving the other 63% to be male. Although females currently seem to dominate men when it comes to attending college in general, most women don’t feel the need or urge to seek even higher or specific education. Compared to past years, this is a huge win for women with educational rights, so if given the opportunity to seek or pursue higher education, take it!

Stats about percentage of women doctors 

Stats about percentage of women v men who have completed four years 

Stats about percentage of women in trade school compared to men 

The importance and value of internships:

Internships are the first step to gaining real work experience, which is extremely valuable as it can give you experience and connections. The best way to get internships is just to reach out either through cold emails, school programs, or just asking questions. If you go to a faculty list of colleges near you, cold emailing certain professors who you feel would be good mentors to you can be useful. Ultimately, if you are feeling discouraged in the field you are wishing to pursue, if you email or reach out to someone for work or shadowing, I’m sure you will get a response somewhere.

Clubs to start at school

Many clubs exist today that give young women the opportunity to build safe communities to voice their opinions as well as feel welcomed. If you are looking to create one of those communities, there are organizations like Girls who Code, GenShe, Society of Women Engineers, and Leading Women of Tomorrow that you can build your clubs or chapters off of. Overall, there are tons of clubs and organizations that you can join or create on your school campus whether that be in high school or college.