Who We Are
Women in STEM (WiSTEM) is a university-wide outreach, recruiting, and retention program within the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) that positions the university as a national leader in women-focused STEM initiatives that advance gender equity in STEM. Girl Day at UT Austin, WEatUT and CREATEatUT high school summer camps, living-learning communities for first-year STEM students, professional skills workshops, role model engagement programs, and other WiSTEM initiatives are designed to increase awareness of and interest in STEM fields, create a sense of community, strengthen STEM identity, and increase self-efficacy for pre-college and undergraduate students. WiSTEM also leads the Texas Girls Collaborative Project statewide network.
What We're Fundraising For
Women in STEM (WiSTEM) is fundraising for scholarships for high school students to attend WiSTEM summer 2022 camps for free. WiSTEM camps are designed to increase awareness of and interest in STEM fields, strengthen STEM identity and increase self-efficacy. Camps provide opportunities for high school students to experience hands-on STEM design challenges and engage with STEM role models with the goal of encouraging more girls to pursue STEM majors and careers. Summer 2022 camps include the following:
Scholarships enable high school participants to join in one or more camps for free. Scholarships to support one camper range from $100 to $1,000 depending on the camp. WiSTEM camps are open to any high school student of any gender.
Your Impact
WiSTEM camps provide students with the opportunity to explore STEM majors, connect with STEM role models, and experience hands-on STEM design challenges that boost their confidence and help them identify as future STEM students and professionals. With our goal to advance gender equity in STEM, scholarships help us recruit diverse students who may otherwise not participate in these types of STEM camp experiences. Scholarships also help ensure that any student can participate in our WiSTEM camps, regardless of financial situation, and have access to high-quality, high-impact STEM experiences.
Past participant and scholarship recipients from our engineering camps shared how the camps impacted them:
I just wanted to thank you again for the great experience this Summer, and also to let you know that I submitted my application to UT Austin. I really appreciated how the CREATEatUT and WEatUT programs challenged my creativity and propelled me to grow through the engineering challenges, the Professional Skills Learning Badges, and the weekly discussions with the Fab Fems role models. I really connected with the energy of the program, and with UT Austin. - Karina, High School Senior, Class of 2022
I just wanted to say thank you so much for putting together a great program this summer! I really felt like I got a lot out of it, and I liked being exposed to the different fields of engineering. This definitely made me want to apply to UT even more and helped me figure out what I may want to major in. - Jamie, High School Junior, Class of 2021
Thank you so much for this camp! I came into this camp not knowing much about engineering but I was interested in exploring it as a possible career in the future, and now, at the conclusion of the camp, I have gained a much better understanding of engineering, the many majors, and the design process. This camp has helped me to learn that engineering is really all around us; it is all about problem-solving and learning from your mistakes! In addition, I loved your FabFems Fridays panelists who all shared some really helpful advice, and I really enjoyed all the design challenges. Ultimately, this camp has shown me that I want to pursue engineering in the future! Thank you! - Alyssa, High School Senior, Class of 2022
Thank you to everyone for another amazing campaign! Below are some of the challenge winners for the second day of the campaign!
It’s Another Surprise Challenge
1st Place: WINNER UT Child Development Center San Jacinto
2nd Place: WINNER Texas Crew
3rd place: WINNER UT Child Development Center Comal
Hungry Bevo Challenge
1st Place: WINNER Texas Crew
2nd Place: WINNER UT Child Development Center San Jacinto
3rd place: WINNER Texas Women's Rugby
40 to the 40 Surprise Challenge
1st Place: WINNER Texas Crew
2nd Place: WINNER Texas Women's Rugby
Final Countdown Challenge
1st Place: WINNER Texas Crew
2nd Place: WINNER The University of Texas Weightlifting Team
3rd place: WINNER Liberal Arts Council
Longhorn Pride Social Media Challenge
1st Place: School of Nursing Area of Greatest Need $1,000 Prize
Runner Ups:
Texas Orange Jackets $250 Prize
Dell Medical School Scholarships $250 Prize
6,000 Milestone Award Winner- Texas Crew
7,000 Milestone Award Winner- Shakespeare at Winedale
8,244 Milestone Award Winner- Texas Women’s Club Lacrosse
What a day! We have a surprise tonight! Between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. CST the top three colleges, schools, units, and organizations that receive the greatest number of gifts will receive an additional reward.
1st Place: $1,500
2nd Place: $750
3rd Place: $250
Rally behind your favorite participating area of campus before 10 p.m!