Penned by: Nicole
Anderson, Executive Director of Philanthropy, AT&T and Anna Maria Chávez,
CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA
What
do the Girl Scouts of the USA and AT&T have in common? Well, we love
technology, and we love to see girls succeed and grow into women who are
leading the way in whatever career they choose. Girls are watching and they are
incredibly savvy. Today’s girls are
digital natives who have the potential to lead us to new technological
breakthroughs in the 21st century.
Unfortunately, even when girls start out interested in careers that
involve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), they often don’t
pursue them after they graduate.
Generation STEM: What
Girls Say about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, a study conducted
by The Girl Scouts Research Institute, found that 74 percent of girls — and an even
higher percentages of African-American and Hispanic girls —say they’re
interested in these very fields. However, 13 percent of these same girls who
are interested in math and science in school say a STEM career is not their
first choice.
So,
where is the breakdown between the girls’ interest and action, particularly
among those who are the most likely to drop out of high school? How can we help
girls learn about the cool jobs they can get with STEM degrees and help them
believe they can not only do these jobs, but succeed in them?
This
is where AT&T and the Girl Scouts are working together, because there isn’t
one easy answer.
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Our
successful collaboration encourages underserved high school girls to imagine a
future STEM career by providing them with afterschool STEM mentoring activities.
AT&T Aspire has made a $625,000 contribution that will support 800 girls, the
majority of whom are at-risk of dropping out of high school, to participate in
hands-on learning activities designed to educate and motivate them to pursue
these areas of interest in college and
careers.
By
teaming up local AT&T employees with Girl Scout councils across the U.S.,
including the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council, Girl
Scouts of the Sierra Nevada, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio and Girl Scouts of
Southern Illinois, we are working together to spark girls’ interest in STEM courses
and opening the door to new career options.
When
AT&T hires new employees, we look for candidates with STEM degrees. Almost
three-quarters (72%) of our recent student hires – including interns – begin
their career in a technology centric area, including IT, Labs, Network
Engineering/Ops, and Technology Sales. And we want more young women to graduate
ready to step into these jobs and hit the ground running.
By
combining the energy of AT&T and Girl Scouts, we know that we are preparing
the next generation of women to be leaders in the 21st century
workforce.
Many
people think of the Girl Scouts selling cookies; we like to think of them as
smart cookies – the ones that go on to be the doctors, engineers, and computer
programmers of tomorrow!