Dr. William Hite, Superintendent to the School District of Philadelphia offered a warm welcome to 100 ninth and tenth graders to the 2nd Annual STEM Goes Red conference in Philadelphia.
Although women fill close to half of all the jobs in the U.S. economy, they hold less than 25% of jobs in science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM). As an extension of the Go Red for Women movement, which empowers communities to build a sustainable culture of health, the American Heart Association created STEM Goes Red, a movement to encourage young women’s interests in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and explore careers in those industries.
Young women participated in break out sessions and speed mentoring opportunities presented by Independence Blue Cross, Pershing, Penn Medicine, OracleNutrisystem, Temple University, Oracle and Vertex.
In addition to Dr. Hite, Philadelphia School District Chief Information Officer Melanie Harris as well as Philadelphia American Heart Association Executive Director Jennifer Davis addressed the students and encouraged the pursuit of future STEM careers.