TOLEDO – Striving to inspire future female innovators, Imagination Station is hosting Girl Power on Saturday in an effort to inspire more girls to embrace STEM.
While nearly half of the U.S. workforce consists of women, women make up only 27 percent of the STEM [science, technology, engineering, math] field, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Girl Power, an annual event, is an attempt to change those statistics by teaching young girls more about science and encouraging them to pursue a career in STEM.
One way Imagination Station hopes to foster this is through an inspiring speech from keynote speaker Stephanie Finoti.
Finoti, 2024’s Miss Ohio in the Miss America program, has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science and is working towards becoming a pediatrician.
“I really hope to show these young girls that you can truly embrace your femininity and also be intelligent and a leader,” she said.
Finoti said she hopes exposing young women to STEM will encourage them to “bridge the gap in STEM in the future.”
Sloan Eberly Mann, chief education officer at Imagination Station, said Finoti challenges the traditional stereotypes.
“She has a very broad range of interests, and I think she shows that you can be girly and love makeup and dresses and all the things that are emblematic of being Miss Ohio, and then you can still pursue these really serious, rigorous science courses and be successful in that, as well,” Mann said.
In addition to the speech, there are working women professionals on hand, workshops and hands-on activities to enhance learning.
“Being able to show them these hands-on activities gives them a glimpse of what a day in the life of this career looks like. And it gets them more interested in the actual subject itself,” said Finoti.
Another way the event strives to encourage female interest in STEM is by encouraging younger girls to get involved, piquing their interest in STEM early on.
“The vast majority of children, young girls, who demonstrate an interest in the sciences will lose that interest in middle school,” said Mann.
“We’ve actually heard back from parents and kids (who said) it set them on the track to pursue the sciences in college. It’s just an exciting, fun day that reinforces our mission that science should be accessible to everyone,” Mann said.
“I hope that students can take away not only a love for STEM and the arts, but to also feel empowered and motivated, and that they can truly become anything they set their mind to doing,” said Finoti.
More information about Girl Power can be found on Imagination Station’s website.
More information about Girl Power can be found on Imagination Station’s website.
The Girl Power event is on Saturday, March 8, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
