Celebrating Girls in STEM on a Local and Global Scale
By Ali Roberts
The Arizona Science Center in downtown Phoenix has served as a hub of lifelong science learning and experiences since the early 1980s. One initiative at the Arizona Science Center is Girls in STEM, which aims to introduce STEM concepts to girls and encourage them to explore STEM professions. The Girls in STEM initiative is continuously updating their programming for Arizona Science Center activities and also creates guides for engaging in science experiments and activities at home. Right now, Girls in STEM is featuring the 2022 – 2023 Girls in STEM Zine, a free bilingual handbook with links to activity guides and bios of Arizona scientists. The activities included in the Girls in STEM Zine can be a fun and engaging way to celebrate an upcoming observance–the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Saturday, February 11, 2023.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an annual observance declared by the United Nations (UN). This year, the UN will be holding the 8th annual assembly with the theme “Bringing Everyone Forward for Sustainable and Equitable Development.” The assembly aims to bring together scientists, youth, experts, and others to discuss how to center STEM in international relations, development programs, and strategic plans. The focus of this year’s assembly is to consider the role that women and girls in science can play in the Sustainable Development Goals, which are 17 goals put forward by the UN to address poverty, social needs, climate change, and environmental protection. The Sustainable Development Goals that will be centered for this year’s assembly include clean water, infrastructure, clean energy, and sustainable communities. Innovation and collaboration are crucial to achieve these goals and to work towards decreasing global inequality.
Possibilities for scientific solutions and transformation in the future starts with sparking interest today. The catalyst for a young scientist could be as simple as an at-home experiment or learning about the many paths that scientists take. The Arizona Science Center is one incredible community resource that provides diverse programs and services to help further nourish curiosity and problem-solving for all learners.
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