The students’ heads are bent over their graph paper as they carefully draw lines and symbols to scale on their floor plans—walls and windows, bathtubs and beds, everything they want in their new homes. But these students aren’t in a high school or college architecture class; they attend South Ridge Elementary School. They’re enjoying hands-on learning with architect Alexis Richbart from Access Architecture as part of the nPower Girls program.
\r\nnPower Girls is an afterschool program where fourth, fifth, and sixth grade girls get to meet and learn from women with careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The goal is to break barriers so the students can picture themselves working in traditionally male-dominated STEM fields. According to U.S. Census data, women make up approximately half of the workforce, but represent only 27% of STEM workers. nPower Girls hopes to bring that number more into balance by introducing young students to new career opportunities they might not have considered otherwise.
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Each session showcases a different career, another opportunity for the students to meet a woman who is an architect or an engineer, an archeologist, or a veterinarian. The program is a partnership between Career Connect Southwest, several schools across southwest Washington, and community organizations. They’re fortunate to have many successful mentors to choose from; women in STEM are excited to participate once they hear about the program. They remember what it was like to see less representation when they were young, and they want to break that mold.
\r\nToday, the group is trying to determine the parameters for their homes. If each square represents a square foot, how many squares do you need for a 100 square foot bedroom? If the bathroom has to have room for a wheelchair to turn in a full circle (about five feet in diameter), how big should the bathroom be? One student raises her hand. “I know it’s not really necessary,” she asks, “but how do you draw a trampoline?” They decide on a circle with radiating spokes to represent the springs—and given the ceiling clearance, that maybe it should go outside.
\r\nTheir houses start to take shape. Another student tilts her head to look at her drawing. She erases a line and redraws it. “This is a little harder than I thought,” she says. Then she brightens and adds, “Maybe next I’ll draw a house for my dog! I bet I could even build one!”
\r\nInspiring that sort of spark is exactly what nPower Girls hopes to achieve, broadening career horizons for young girls. “I saw that the E in STEM was for engineering, and I want to be one,” one fourth grader says. “Where my brother works, there aren’t many girls.” But if these nPower Girls have anything to say about it, that might not be the case for much longer. Motivated by their STEM mentors, these students are ready to power their educations and careers forward, reaching toward a future with endless possibilities.