The University of Arkansas Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun: STEM Fun, That Is! Year 4 event took place Feb. 10 as part of the series of STEM Leadership for Girls Conferences funded by three state agencies and organizations. Participating U of A colleges were the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Health Professions and the College of Engineering.

The Arkansas STEM Coalition, in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and the Arkansas Department of Career Education under the Carl D. Perkins Technical Education Act of 2006 have provided funding and support to the 12 STEM Leadership for Girls Conferences held to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

The one-day conferences began last fall and will continue through this spring on university campuses around the state. The purpose of the grant funding is to improve opportunities and services to Arkansas female students to promote interest in STEM career fields and ultimately reduce the stereotype that these fields are mainly for men. This program hopes to encourage young women to pursue collegiate careers in STEM-related occupations.

The conferences for 50 or more girls in grades 9-12 include STEM activities in a workshop format applying topics such as robotics, coding, engineering design, space science, nanoscience, chemical reactions, and 3-D visualization. In the past three years, 46 conferences have been offered with more than 3,600 girls in grades 7 through 12.

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