Renée Simkins, Educational Outreach Coordinator, VT EPSCoR Center for Workforce and Professional Education at Vermont State University, and VT EPSCoR SOCKS Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Cailin Gramling attended The Women Can Do (WCD) Expo on October 10, 2024 at VTSU campus in Randolph, Vermont to introduce Vermont high school students to the RII Track-1 project, Harnessing the Data Revolution for Vermont: The Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS). The WCD reported that “this year, 300+ high school girls and gender-expansive students joined Vermont Works for Women (VWW) and over 100 Vermont employers and partners for a chilly but empowering day!”
Renée explained that the “WCD is a powerful event designed to inspire and empower young women from rural high schools to pursue careers in fields such as computer science, technology, and engineering. In many rural Vermont communities, students have limited exposure to the tech world, with few opportunities to explore STEM careers or grasp the wide-ranging potential of computer science”.
At the 2024 Women Can Do conference, Renée and Cailin had the opportunity to share how VT EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) provides access to educational opportunities in STEM related areas across the state. Through conversations with students and their teachers, Cailin and Renée discussed how SOCKS research offers a compelling and accessible entry point into many STEM fields such as computer science, for example, its diverse applications and career paths.
Renée explained to the students that “computer science is not confined to tech companies or programming. It is deeply integrated into a wide range of industries- from improving healthcare systems and advancing environmental sustainability to finance, government, and entertainment. Careers in computer science are not just about coding; they involve collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, design, and critical thinking”.
Further, she said that “because many students don’t realize the breadth and impact of this field, they may never consider pursuing it as a career path. Events like the WCD Expo can help change that by showcasing how dynamic, versatile, and accessible computer science truly is. By continuing to expose young people to the full scope of possibilities in STEM, we can inspire them to see these fields as viable and exciting career paths- ultimately empowering them to contribute to the growth and well-being of our community in countless ways”.
For more information, please visit vtworksforwomen.org/vww-celebrates-25-years-of-women-can-do.
