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Posted On: 05/17/2006

STEPS in the Right Direction: Youth group introduces young people to match, science, technology

PlantServices.com

Industry partners and colleges and universities working with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation (SME-EF) www.sme.org/foundation will be following plans recently announced by the U. S. Department of Education. In-depth investigations are being conducted this summer on whether selected colleges and universities are complying with federal anti-bias laws in their treatment of women in math and science.

The signature youth program of the Foundation, (STEPS) Science, Technology & Engineering Preview Summer camp, has proactively acted to address the issue by providing opportunities to more than 4,000 young people to be introduced to math, science, and cutting edge technology. The objective of the Foundation is to create engineers for the future of manufacturing. 

In 2005, Harvard President Lawrence Summers sparked uproar when he hypothesized that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. Though controversial as they may have been, Summers’ remarks touched upon the reality that the fields of science and math employ far fewer women than men.

Traditionally, American women have lagged behind men in the fields of math and science. The reasons for this continue to be debated. But, as the debate continues,  Brianne Hartung, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wis.,  http://www.uwstout.edu/ is studying packaging engineering (one of the majors emphasized by STEPS) and even helped, with two other students, design a package that now has a patent pending and could one day be a profitable product for a manufacturer. Her program includes spending a semester interning at Ecolab Inc., St. Paul, Minn., www.ecolab.com.

Says Hartung, “Looking back - I would have never given a second thought to the field of engineering or the manufacturing industry. But STEPS has had a tremendous impact on my life, showing me how important education and training can be and that    an industry typically thought of as a man’s world has plenty of women.”

In 2006, STEPS camps will be held at 12 schools in 7 states with corporate funding provided by the Caterpillar Foundation, DaimlerChrysler Corporation and Ford Motor Company. A new partnership with Project Lead The Way® —a not-for-profit organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students, www.pltw.org.will offer an enhanced STEPS curriculum in pilot programs in the greater areas of Rochester, N.Y., and San Bernardino and San Diego, Calif.