The Women in Technology (WIT) Club is working to close the gender gap in STEM-related fields.
The club provides information about possible internship and career opportunities that can get female students involved in STEM.
“We want to make sure that women are confident enough to go to STEM-related careers and that they know that there’s nothing holding them back,” said Vice President Maya Raman, a senior.
The club leaders offer a variety of lectures to encourage women’s participation in STEM fields, inform people about a lot of new opportunities, and provide students with scholarships and future career choices.
They had a guest speaker last year and the leaders would like to incorporate more of that into the club this year. They would also like to provide more experience with programming by building a club website.
“We hope to have more guest lectures for the club this year because I think that it gives a lot more insight on what the workforce is like,” said President Julia Tu, a senior.
Girls are not the only ones who are allowed to join the club. Participation of guys in the club is allowed, although none have shown up.
“Guys are allowed to participate but none have shown interest,” said Tu.
Although there has been limited promotion of the club, there are approximately 40-50 club members coming in annually.
“We don’t promote our club that much,” said Raman. “We usually just hand out flyers and post on Instagram.”
Despite the promotion, students enjoy the club for a variety of reasons.
“I like this club because I can hang out with my friends,” said Alique Momjian, a junior. “I also like how they help us find ways to get involved instead of just telling us to get involved.”
Other members think that a club like WIT Club is important to have during high school.
“I think that it’s a really great idea, especially for women in high school, to develop confidence, to believe in themselves, and to pursue all of their dreams regardless of anything that comes their way,” said Jennifer Anderson, a senior.
Tu said that she created the club because she has been involved with technology and STEM-related activities in middle school and high school and she noticed how limited women’s spots in STEM fields were, especially for Silicon Valley.
The club leaders would like to incorporate more hands-on activities in the future. Instead of only having presentations, they would like to connect and engage with the members more, in addition to building more experience and bringing in more guest speakers.
“We want to provide more hands-on activities. We were hoping to get access to Chromebooks this year so that we can practice programming.”
WIT Club wants to combat the lack of female representation in the STEM field and support women who want to pursue STEM careers in the future.
WIT Club meets on the first and third Mondays of the month in E11.
