STEM enthusiasts empower fellow female students

Ti Gong

As the founders of the Women in STEM Club, we are thrilled to share our journey and the incredible milestones we have achieved in fostering gender equality in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics within the Shanghai Community International School community.

Our organization is on the cusp of becoming the first internationally recognized chapter of the renowned WiSTEM international organization.

The main goal of our organization is to empower and support women in STEM in our SCIS community by providing them with a platform to network, learn and thrive.

Through our initiatives, we aim to create an inclusive environment that encourages women to pursue their passions to excel in their chosen STEM fields and have a greater impact on the world.

Over the past two months, our organization has taken on initiatives to support and uplift women in STEM.

One of our key accomplishments has been the establishment of online calls with university students. These virtual meetings serve as a platform for knowledge-sharing, networking, and mentorship.

Through these insightful discussions, guest speakers, and collaborative projects, we aim to inspire and guide young women towards successful STEM careers.

We also organized a visit to a local hospital for CPR training and to learn from first aid doctors. This hands-on experience allowed our members to gain valuable insights into emergency medical procedures and understand the critical role of STEM in healthcare.

By bridging the gap between theoretical learning and real-world applications, we empower our members to become well-rounded professionals in their fields.

Our zeal for fostering connections and creating impactful experiences extends beyond our SCIS community. As we look ahead to become the first international chapter of WiSTEM, we are excited to collaborate with like-minded organizations and individuals around the world. Together, we will create an environment at SCIS to encourage girls to pursue their passion in STEM and thrive with a supportive community.

On April 23, we had a guest speaker, Izzie Zhang who works at SanDisk, a Western Digital in Shanghai as a semiconductor engineer. This event was super exciting as it was our first time hosting an in-person guest speaker. We were able to gain much valuable knowledge from her experience.

Zhang completed her bachelors in materials engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Later on, she became fascinated by semiconductors and started working at Western Digital. After three years at Western Digital, she decided to expand her knowledge about semiconductor engineering and pursue a masters degree at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Later, Zhang explained how semiconductor chips are made and the different functions and integrations of AI and core chips. This part was super fascinating as she played short videos of the numerous layers used to make just 1mm of a chip.

She concluded with tips for girls entering the STEM field and introduced an interesting statistic that suck with us.

Zhang had an interactive scenario where she listed qualifications for a perfect job and asked how many of us would apply for the job, to which none of us felt we could meet all of those standards.

She then said that men apply for jobs where they meet only 60 percent of the requirements whereas women only apply for jobs where they meet 100 percent of the requirements.

This was shocking and she was able to demonstrate this through her interactive questionnaire. We were all able to learn so much from Zhang as she not only taught us about her field, but also strategies that were applicable to us as women.

(Samantha Loomis and Ines Ng-Triquet are Grade 11 students at the Shanghai Community International School.)