HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- Women engineers and scientists from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, met with female high school students from NUAMES High School in Layton during a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) event March 30, 2023. This question-and-answer event is one of many that the Hill AFB WiSE, or Women in Science and Engineering, volunteers participate in to educate students about STEM careers available in the Air Force.
WiSE was started several years ago within Hill's Stem Outreach program with the intent to generate interest for girls in STEM by providing them networking opportunities, career advancement education, and inspiration.
“Hill will never be able to have our mission critical STEM workforce of the future if we don’t get more students in general interested in STEM, but with girls continuing to be such a small percentage of the STEM workforce, specific programs for girls are essential,” said Alison Sturgeon, 520th Software Engineering Group and Hill's former STEM program manager.
Sturgeon said that studies show girls in particular need to see women role models who work in STEM-related career fields in order to see themselves there someday.
“Many students don’t know what they don’t know,” she said. “STEM outreach can spark interest and inform students at a young age encouraging them to choose a STEM pathway and consider an Air Force civilian career.”