The University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering’s Girls Reaching and Demonstrating Excellence (GRADE) Camp recently was named a finalist for a 2008 Texas Higher Education Star Award.
GRADE Camp, a program designed to introduce high school girls to science and engineering, was chosen from 84 nominations and is among 19 finalists from across Texas to be considered for the honor, said Mary Smith, assistant deputy commissioner in the division of academic planning and policy for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in 2001, the Texas Higher Education Star Award recognizes outstanding contributions toward the “Closing the Gaps by 2015” initiative adopted by the board in 2000. All finalists have made a contribution to closing gaps in higher education in one or more of the initiatives goal areas.
“The star award is a special honor and a way to pay tribute to the programs that have helped the state move closer to its higher education goals of closing the gaps in participation, success, excellence and research,” said the Texas Commissioner for Higher Education, Raymund A. Paredes, in a news release. “The best of their kind programs serve as models that can be duplicated at other institutions to help ensure Texas can sustain a competitive workforce well into the 21st century.”
Finalists will be recognized and up to 12 winners announced at the eighth annual Star Award ceremony and luncheon Dec. 2 in Austin, Smith said.
The camp, established in 2003, caters to girls entering grades eight through 12. The one-week camp sessions combine both classroom instruction and hands-on activities to teach engineering concepts, teamwork, problem solving and verbal skills.
Since its inception, the program has grown significantly. It’s not only secured state, federal, and industry funding, but camp sessions have grown from two per summer to five, bringing close to 500 girls through the program.
In each session, the girls’ weeks are centered on designing, building and programming a Lego robot to autonomously move through a maze. Other activities and instruction include building motors using batteries and wires, magnetism, history of science, and circuit bingo, as well as voltage and current exercises.
The program, according to GRADE Camp Director Allison Swenson, is much bigger than one week of activities that exposes girls to science and engineering.
“There is a definite deficit of women in engineering, mostly because they don’t think they can do it or think it’s a field only for men,” Swenson said, noting recent U.S. Census data indicates only about 11 percent of the engineering workforce is comprised of women. “The goal is to get more girls interested in the field, and bring them into engineering.”
It has. Of the campers the program has follow-up data on, 67 percent are pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Of these, 79 percent are pursuing engineering. These are results that fit well within the goals of the “Closing the Gaps” initiative, striving to close higher education gaps challenging the state.
“The data shows that GRADE Camp makes a significant difference in the ultimate choices that these young women make concerning their major in college and ultimately for their careers,” said Stuart Long, a professor in the college’s department of electrical and computer engineering who led efforts to establish the program. “These girls come in not knowing what to expect. It’s amazing what one week can do to change their attitude and get them excited.”