Education for Women/Girls

HP has long believed that what’s good for society and the earth is good for business. But Porter and Kramer’s work gave corporate purpose a label, Shared Value. It became a rallying cry for sustainability professionals to garner support from their C-suite and internal business teams to help shift perspectives on what corporate social responsibility (CSR) means.

Last week, during an Ignite My Future In School Computational Thinking in the Classroom webisode, educators convened virtually to share best practices for engaging students in computational thinking.

One of the most effective ways to inspire girls to pursue a STEM education and careers is to introduce them to professionals in the field. A partnership between North American automaker FCA US and the Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation (MCWT) is making sure that young women ‘GET-IT’, which stands for Girls Exploring Together Information Technology.

Jessica Rodriquez first wanted to be a zoologist. Then, an engineer and later, a veterinarian. Now, she’s pretty sure she wants to be a landscape architect. Jessica isn’t an indecisive college sophomore. She’s 11 and a student at Collinswood Language Academy in Charlotte, N.C. Her mom, Monique, credits Project Scientist with Jessica’s wide-ranging career interests. “Project Scientist introduces girls to all these different careers,” said Monique Rodriquez. “It shows them they have options.”

Recognizing the need to continue developing students today for tomorrow’s workforce, SC Johnson is proud to support education through its philanthropic contributions, a portion of which includes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs worldwide.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, last week JetBlue’s Women in Flight crewmember resource group, in partnership with the airline’s diversity & inclusion teams and the JetBlue Foundation, hosted its signature Fly Like a Girl event, bringing aspiring and youth from local organizations to JetBlue’s Hangar at New York’s JFK Airport. For the fourth year in a row, participants heard what it’s like to run an airline from female crewmembers representing careers below the wing, above the wing and everywhere in between.

At the event, the attendees participated in sessions throughout the day which included a crewmember Q&A, an airplane engine “show and tell,” and an opportunity to board an aircraft and sit in the Captain’s seat and a meet-and-greet with women pilots and inflight crewmembers.

“People used to even make jokes about me because I asked so many questions,” says Kennedy Sampson, now a high school junior in Maryland. “But I needed to understand it …I had to do what I had to.” Kennedy’s determination and grit makes her a good candidate to succeed in math. Her voice was among more than 6,000 U.S. girls and women from ages 10 to 30 who were interviewed for a newly released study about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.