26 May 2021
WINGS event at Hawker College helping girls see a future in STEM careers
Girls from across ACT public high schools attending the WINGS event at Hawker College earlier this month.
These girls, including Year 10 Alfred Deakin High School students Christina and Angie (centre front), got to
visit the engineering lab at Hawker College as part of the day.
Earlier this month Hawker College held their annual WINGS event, which focuses on encouraging female students to take an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Supported by an ACT Government ‘Girls in STEM’ grant, WINGS is now into its third year. Students from across several ACT public high schools attend the event, which has a wide range of forums, guest speakers and practical experiments across all areas of STEM.
This year’s event included events as diverse as demonstrations of a robot walking and speaking, pH testing of kangaroo droppings and blood samples in chemistry labs, and even the ANU solar racing car!
Christina and Angie, two year 10 students from Alfred Deakin High School, were among the more than 100 students who attended the event and are both interested in careers in STEM.
“At Alfred Deakin, we started a Girls in STEM club there,” Christina said. “There are about a dozen girls involved and get together once every two weeks to talk about STEM.”
“We have some girls that are interested in programming, some girls into medicine, some girls into space, some girls into engineering… it really varies. Our teacher tries to find things that would suit our interests.”
Christina said she was interested in biology and genetics and enjoyed meeting female professionals in STEM fields at WINGS.
“I think it is cool seeing other women STEM professionals here as well - they are people to look up to.,” Christina said.
“Some girls don’t feel they’re good enough to do STEM – so when you go to these events, and it is hands on, it is really fun. And some girls will think, maybe I am interested in this?”
Angie agreed and said she thought the WINGS event - and its focus on Girls in STEM - was incredibly valuable.
“Being here makes me feel like I belong in the STEM field,” Angie said. “It makes me feel like it is not so out of reach.”
Angie, who is hopeful of a future career in chemistry and physics, said events like WINGS could help break down barriers.
“STEM in the real world is a very male-dominated field,” Angie said.
“As a woman trying to get into a STEM field, it is very hard. You often have to speak louder than other people.
“I think starting from a young age gives you that jump start into being able to actually fight gender stereotypes and get into the field.”