The word “woman” can evoke a multitude of reactions. Recently, it’s adopted a positive connotation in the STEM field as scholarships and job opportunities look to increase the number of females in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. For junior Christa Cole, secretary on the STEM Executive Board, the word brings to mind people of many capabilities and talents.

“Girls are just as smart as guys. We’re fierce. Women are underrepresented sometimes, and sometimes we can be seen as inferior in different career paths. That’s not right at all. We can be just as smart, just as competent. I don’t think our gender should be anything that has to do with math or science in our representation [in STEM fields],” Cole said.

STEM Special Events Coordinator senior Vivian Neal will be in charge of an annual event called WiSTEM, a promotion of women in pathways related to these branches. Neal is planning to go into a career if technology and engineering, and has found STEM to be extremely beneficial.

“I signed up for STEM because I want to be a computer engineer, so initially I was helped into the STEM pathway by a teacher [from] my old school. She really aided me in seeing what else there was in the sciences… it has just been really great for me,” Neal said.

Compared to her old school, Neal finds there is a large enrollment of girls in STEM-related courses here at HHS. Not only does she want people to realize that girls have an interest, but that they have immense potential.

“There are a lot [of girls], it’s actually pretty amazing. I’ve never actually seen this many people in STEM. At my old school, I was one of the only girls in one of my STEM classes. Here, it’s like 50/50, and it’s very nice to see,” Neal said. “We have our own creative [ideas] that we could bring to the career. It’s not nice to be confined to a set of standards or career pathways that we could take, its nice to give girls other options.”

Cole finds the steady increase of females to be exciting; even among the small program of under 300 STEM students, she is amazed everyday by these girls and their talents.  

“There are a lot of girls [in the program], and I’m very impressed with the ones I have seen. They’re very involved and they are ready to learn; they want to get their hands dirty and they are ready to work,” Cole said. “They’re intelligent girls, they’re smart. They don’t play dumb at all. They go hard core, and I’m really really impressed with all of them.”