Connections with Renee Shaw

The goal of the Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative Project is to bring together organizations and programs that inform and motivate girls to pursue educations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to build a strong, diverse workforce in Kentucky.

The panel includes Carol Hanley, a director of education and communications at the University of Kentucky; Doris Clark-Sarr, director of Adventures in Math and Science (AIMS) at Murray State University; Nancy Martin, professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Louisville; and Sue Scheff, coordinator of the Appalachian and Minority Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Majors (AMSTEMM) program at the University of Kentucky.

The panel discusses the importance of encouraging young women and other minority groups to participate in STEM career paths. They also talk about factors that hinder girls’ involvement and success in those subjects, including a lack of role models and the perception that smart girls are not socially successful.

The panel also discusses some of the project’s specific services, short- and long-term goals, financial aid available to Kentucky girls interested in the sciences, parents’ and teachers’ roles in the initiative, and much more.