Program inspires girls to pursue STEM through mentoring and hands-on experience

SALT LAKE CITY, June 5, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — With thousands of open technology jobs nationwide and a huge demand for more women to fill them, Women Tech Council (WTC) today launched the 2018 SheTech Summer Internship program. Building off other STEM activation events and opportunities in SheTech, this program connects high school girls with tech companies throughout Silicon Slopes to gain hands-on experience, mentoring and skills that will help them pursue STEM fields and careers.

“The entire technology ecosystem benefits from a strong, diverse workforce, with cohesive teams that can leverage the talent and skills of many,” said Cydni Tetro, president of WTC. “Helping more women enter and succeed in this talent pipeline starts with helping girls have early experiences with technology careers and role models who show them what’s possible in these fields to inspire and help them build the skills and motivation to pursue STEM.”

Over the next 2 weeks, the 36 interns participating in this year’s program will visit and be mentored by professionals at leading Silicon Slopes companies, including:

  • Adobe
  • Ancestry
  • Dell EMC
  • Instructure
  • Ivanti
  • NICE inContact
  • Tesla
  • Thumbtack
  • Utah Opensource

Students were selected for participation based on interest in STEM, recommendations and participation in other components of the SheTech program.  This year’s interns include sophomores, juniors and seniors representing 36 high schools across Silicon Slopes. Research with students shows that after participating in SheTech’s various hands-on and motivational programs, more than 90 percent of girls are more interested in pursuing STEM degrees and careers.

“SheTech has changed my vision for what I want to do in the future,” said Makenzy Toro, a senior at Mountain View High School. “Meeting people in real technology jobs and seeing what they do has helped me realize what is possible for me in the future and inspired me to work now in school to pursue a job in technology.”

For more information about the SheTech Internship Program, visit www.shetechexplorer.com.

Media Contact 
Abby Shaha 
ashaha@intrepidagency.com 
801-481-9482