The percentage of women working in science, technology, engineering, and math fields continues to remain stubbornly low. Women made up 28 percent of the STEM global workforce last year, according to the World Economic Forum.
IEEE and many other organizations conduct outreach programs targeting preuniversity girls and college-age women, and studies show that one of the most powerful ways to encourage girls to consider a STEM career is by introducing them to female role models in such fields. The exposure can provide the girls with insights, guidance, and advice on how to succeed in STEM.
To provide a venue to connect young girls with members working in STEM, IEEE partnered with the Girl Scouts of the United States of America’s Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) council and its See Her, Be Her career exploration program. Now in its eighth year, the annual event—which used to be called What a G.I.R.L. Can Be—provides an opportunity for girls to learn about STEM careers by participating in hands-on activities, playing games, and questioning professionals at the exhibits.
This year’s event was held in May at Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, N.J. Volunteers from the IEEE North Jersey Section and the IEEE Technical Activities Future Networks technical community were among the 30 exhibitors. More than 100 girls attended.
“IEEE and the Girl Scouts share a view that STEM fields require a diversity of thought, experience, and backgrounds to be able to use technology to better the world,” says IEEE Member Craig Polk, senior program manager for the technical community. He helped coordinate the See Her, Be Her event.
“We know that there’s a shortage of girls and women in STEM careers,” adds Johanna Nurjahan, girl experience manager for the Heart of New Jersey council. “We are really trying to create that pipeline, which is needed to ensure that the number of women in STEM tracks upward.”
STEM is one of four pillars
The Girl Scouts organization focuses on helping girls build courage, confidence, and character. The program is based on four pillars: life skills, outdoor skills, entrepreneurship, and STEM.
“We offer girls a wide range of experiences that empower them to take charge of their future, explore their interests, and discover the joy of learning new skills,” Nurjahan says. “As they grow and progress through the program, they continue developing and refining skills that build courage, confidence, and character—qualities that prepare them to make the world a better place. Everything we do helps lay a strong foundation for leadership.”
A fruitful collaboration
The partnership between IEEE and the Girl Scouts began shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in 2020. Volunteers from IEEE sections worked with IEEE TryEngineering to bring resources to areas that had not historically been represented in STEM, Polk says.
Trinity Zang, a laboratory manager at Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Essex County, N.J.shows a Girl Scout Brownie how to transfer liquid samples using pipettes.GSHNJ
During that same period, the Girl Scouts were increasing their involvement in STEM-related programs. They worked with U.S. IEEE sections to conduct hands-on activities at schools. They also held career fairs and created STEM badges. The collaboration has grown since then.
“IEEE has always been a fantastic partner,” Nurjahan says. “They’re always willing to aid us as we work to get more girls engaged in STEM.”
IEEE first got involved with the See Her, Be Her career fair in May 2024, which was also held at Stevens Tech.
“Being able to introduce engineering and STEM to possible future innovators and leaders helps grow the understanding of how societal problems can be solved,” Polk says. “IEEE also benefits by having a new generation knowing who we are and what our charitable organization is doing to improve humanity through technology.”
“See Her, Be Her gives girls the chance to see women leading in nontraditional careers and inspires them to dream bigger, challenge limits, and believe they can do anything they set their minds to,” Nurjahan says. “It’s about showing them that every path is open to them. They just have to go for it.”
One of the volunteers who participated in this year’s career fair was IEEE Senior Member Gautami Nadkarni. A cloud architect, she’s a senior customer engineer with Google in New York City.
“I’m very passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion and other such initiatives because I believe that was something I personally benefited from in my career,” Nadkarni says. “I had a lot of strong supporters and champions.”
She says she was inspired to pursue a STEM career after attending a lecture given by a female professor from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
“I remember being just so empowered and really inspired by her and thinking, Wow, there is someone who looks like me and is going places,” Nadkarni says. “When I look back, that was one of the moments that helped me shape who I am from a career standpoint.”
IEEE Senior Member Gautami Nadkarn decorated her career fair booth with a cloud motif.Gautami Nadkarn
She holds a master’s degree in management information systems from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Dwarkadas Jivanlal Sanghvi College of Engineering, in Mumbai.
Her exhibit at the career fair was on cloud computing. She decorated her booth with a cloud motif and introduced herself to the youngsters as a “superhero for big companies” because she helps them keep their information safe and organized. She used child-friendly examples, explaining to the Girl Scouts that she teaches customers how to use supercomputers to better understand information and help them determine what kind of toys children want.
“IEEE and the Girl Scouts share a view that STEM fields require a diversity of thought, experience, and backgrounds to be able to use technology to better the world.” — Craig Polk
“I think cloud computing is still an untapped area,” she says. “There are a lot of people who probably don’t know a lot about cloud engineering.
“I wanted to create an awareness and an experience to show that it’s not boring, and show how they can use it in their day-to-day lives.”
Her exhibit showcased the tasks cloud engineers handle. To describe the fundamentals of how data is stored, managed, and processed, she created a data-sorting exercise by having participants separate toy dinosaurs by color. As a way to explain the importance of data security, she made a puzzle that showed students how to protect valuable information. To demonstrate how AI can bring someone’s wild ideas to life, she taught them to use Google Cloud’s text-to-image model Imagen 3. The girls used their imaginations—which translated into AI-generated images including one of a dog riding a unicycle on a boat. The girls also made audio messages using different voices.
“The exhibitors who participate in the See Her, Be Her program provide inspiration,” Nurjahan says. “It’s inspiring to see the enthusiasm in the girls after meeting with exhibitors. Just a few minutes of engagement gives them a glimpse of their potential and sparks hope for the future, no matter what career they choose.”
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