Who We Are
Women in STEM (WiSTEM) is broadening participation in STEM by creating an inspired community of confident STEM leaders. Collaboratively with colleges and programs across the UT Austin campus, WiSTEM is creating pathways for students to explore, pursue, and persist within STEM majors and career pathways and supporting them along the way. WiSTEM’s university-wide outreach, recruiting and retention STEM programs for precollege and undergraduate STEM students are designed to increase STEM identity, self-efficacy, and a sense of belonging and lead to increased undergraduate retention/persistence, graduation rates, advancement to graduate school, and persistence in the STEM workforce.
What We're Fundraising For
We're broadening participation in STEM by advancing STEM learning, skills building, and community creating beyond the classroom.
WiSTEM is fundraising for STEM Learning Scholarships to support high school students to participate in summer camps and undergraduate students to participate in the WiSTEM Externship, workshops and conferences where they will expand their STEM learning beyond the classroom, make connections to expand their networks, and gain professional and career skills for their STEM future. WiSTEM will prioritize supporting first-time camp, workshop or conference student attendees with STEM Learning Scholarships that offset registration and participation fees and/or travel expenses.
Your Impact
Your gift of any amount will have an incredible impact on our STEM students' learning and future STEM career success:
Students Thank You!
High school camp participants Jessica, Amaya, and Vivian shared their appreciation for WiSTEM high school camp scholarships and experiences:
Shivani, a mechanical engineering undergraduate, shared her experience attending a STEM conference made possible by a STEM Learning Scholarship:
Sarah, an architecture/architectural engineering undergraduate, shared her experience after receiving a STEM Learning Scholarship for a virtual conference registration fee:
STEM Learning Scholarships Impact
Ultimately, WiSTEM seeks to endow STEM Learning Scholarships so that STEM students well into the future can enhance their learning through high school summer camps, conferences and workshops beyond the classroom.
"Co-curricular and extracurricular involvement both play important roles in students’ cognitive and affective development, educational effectiveness and satisfaction, as well as a sense of belonging. Moreover, these practices can help equip a diverse population with the academic and professional skills that are necessary in order to succeed in the technological workforce." (Involvement in Out-of-Class Activities Research Study: A Mixed Research Synthesis Examining Outcomes with a Focus on Engineering Students, June 2017)
STEM Learning Scholarships and student participation in high school summer camps, STEM conferences and workshops can positively impact persistence in STEM majors and careers and can contribute to broadening participation in STEM by creating an inspired community of confident STEM leaders.