GAINS – Girls Achieving In Non-Traditional Subjects – Silicon Valley

Tonight was the end of the year celebration of the GAINS Program. Juliana was one of many students who was asked to share her thoughts on the importance of the program and I was happy to see her standing on stage, sharing her ideas. She is so lucky to have this program available to her and to have the opportunity to explore careers and to network with women that are paving the way in STEM related fields.

There was a female, Indian speaker from Symantec who was a Quality Engineer. She shared the importance of her job to building quality products and talked about how she goes about doing her work to make a difference. You could tell that you loved her job and was proud of her success and she wanted to share this with the GAINS Girls. I loved hearing her passion and about her kids and how she loves what she does. She was very encouraging to the girls and shared stories about equal pay, and hiring young, energetic and enthusiastic girls and that they have super powers!!

The information below is from the SCUSD website – http://www.santaclarausd.org/community.cfm?subpage=123059

GAINS (Girls Achieving in Non-traditional Subjects) encourages and inspires young women to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) and other non-traditional career options.

Young women who participate in the program:

• gain a social network of exceptional young women

• gain exposure to career options and mentoring

• gain insight into their own potential for a STEM career

• gain confidence in making career-oriented education choices

• gain access to resources for getting into colleges

Through an exciting social network, students have the opportunity to hear from and talk with professional women currently working in these fields. Students have fun with their friends learning about future careers, visiting colleges, attending conferences and exploring opportunities for education.

What is the program?

Every month, GAINS girls can learn from inspiring professional women and can ask them questions about their career paths. In addition, GAINS girls participate in events throughout the year including Orientation, Success Camp, College/Career Day, workshops, project-based learning, field trips to college, business and industry, and an End-of-Year Celebration (with families).

Extracurricular activities include lectures, tutoring, internships, and job shadows.

Here is another resource to learn more about women in STEM related fields and why this program is important: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_STEM_fields

I am excited to see what Juliana decides to be when she grows up.

nAMaste