Energizing Potential is the report on the long-awaited evaluation of the annual 2.5-hour AAUW Long Beach STEM Career Conference, a 2020 AAUW Community Action Grant recipient. The report shares the effectiveness of the conference on traditionally underserved Long Beach Unified School District eighth graders who attended in 2015 and 2016. The outcome results are especially helpful if your branch is conducting or supporting a STEM event that is of shorter duration than the five-day Tech Trek camp.
The research includes survey responses collected in their senior years of high school in 2019 and 2020, along with STEM course data comparisons with the eighth-grade peers from the same middle schools who did not attend, and the college enrollment of all attendees.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) Long Beach STEM Career Conference was envisioned by its originators in 2003 as an opportunity for middle-school girls from economically challenged households to be inspired to consider careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and to further their education.
2024 update: The Conference, for 20 years, was an abbreviated version of the one-week AAUW California Tech Trek camp program held on college campuses. It was conducted at Long Beach City College (LBCC) and then in the last three years at Sato Academy, a Long Beach high school dedicated to math and science, on a Friday afternoon and provided two hands-on career workshops and an inspiring keynote speaker. Though the branch itself is no longer conducting the event as of 2024, the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) has decided to continue the Conference with its own resources.
Energizing Potential proves that a short-term inspiring STEM event is highly impactful. We encourage you to check out the details.
Please contact branch leadership at aauwlongbeach@gmail.com with any additional questions.
Watch Frances’ presentation at the AAUW California October 2021 Fund Luncheon.