As this edition of the newsletter was being compiled, the Scholarship Committee was still working to determine the recipients of our Fall 2010 scholarships. Look for an announcement of the Fall 2010 recipients in our next newsletter, coming in June. There will be an awards banquet to recognize the recipients (and all the other great things our section has accomplished this year) on June 7th.
Awards Banquet!
Contact Janette Spann at awards@swe-mn.org for more information.Certificate of Merit Program Reaches New Heights!
Submitted by Naomi Brill, SWE-MN Certificate of Merit Coordinator
The SWE Certificate of Merit program is designed to honor high school girls with outstanding achievement in science and mathematics coursework. Award recipients must have completed three years of science and three years of mathematics with distinction, and they must be active citizens in their school and/or community. We provide their school with a certificate of recognition which is presented to the student at the school’s year-end awards ceremony. This year, we sent 141 certificates to students at 84 different schools in Minnesota!
In typical years, SWE Minnesota sends 80-90 certificates to girls at about 50 schools. This year’s requests for recognition represent an increase of more than 50% over past participation levels! In addition to achievement in science and math courses, for the first time, we recognized 11 girls for excellence in engineering and technology coursework completed through Project Lead the Way.
Our Certificate of Merit program provides us with an annual survey (albeit not absolutely scientific) of the career aspirations of Minnesota’s academically prepared girls. Seventy-six girls answered our question “What is your intended college major?” Of those 76 girls, 34 indicated engineering as their intended college major. Many of them further indicated a specific discipline within engineering. Another 19 girls indicated their intent to major in science, math, or related disciplines. Guidance counselors from all parts of Minnesota nominate our Certificate of Merit recipients, and the girls self-identify their intended college major. Implausible as it may seem, of the 76 academically prepared young Minnesota women who indicated an intended college major on their Certificate of Merit nomination form, almost 70% of them are planning on majoring in a STEM discipline. Looking at the total sample of 141 academically prepared girls (which includes both juniors and seniors), the percentage of girls indicating their intent to major in a STEM discipline is still an astonishing 38%. This is the second consecutive year our certificate recipients have indicated high interest in STEM disciplines for their college studies!
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