U of A Event April 25 to Promote STEM Fields to Girls

The University of Arkansas STEM Center for Mathematics and Science Education will offer a daylong STEM Leadership for Girls conference on April 25 on the U of A campus.

The conference is one of 11 scheduled around the state this spring that are funded by the Carl D. Perkins Technical Education Act of 2006. The Arkansas STEM Coalition, in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and the Arkansas Department of Career Education, received $76,000 to hold the conferences to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

The purpose of the grant funding is to improve opportunities and services to Arkansas girls and women, particularly in grade 10 through college sophomores. The conferences will promote interest in STEM career fields and ultimately reduce the stereotype that these fields are mainly for men.

STEM activities at the conference will include robotics, coding, engineering design, space science, nanoscience, chemical reactions, and 3-D visualization.

For more information, contact Lynne Hehr, University of Arkansas STEM Center director, at lhehr@uark.edu.