On November 8, Utah Valley University hosted the ninth annual Empowering Your Tomorrow STEM conference to introduce boys grade six – twelve to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
There were more than 30 interactive workshops and lectures about robotics, aviation, artificial intelligence, engineering, computer science, graphic design, architecture and more. Parents and educators were also welcome to attend the keynote, lectures and workshops throughout the day.
This conference is specifically catered to boys, but girls will be invited to a similar conference in March.
“We definitely want the girls to be separate because we bring in all female role models,” said Lisa Williamson, Event Coordinator with the UVU Women’s Success Center.
Williamson found that boys needed the same opportunities to be exposed to STEM as girls.
“I found that there are huge groups of boys that aren’t getting that message either at home or at their school. We thought that’s important for them too,” said Williamson.
There weren’t any sessions regarding gender stereotypes or gender equality during the boy’s conference, but those challenges will be addressed during the girl’s conference in March.
Corry M. Cloward, president of Cloward H20, gave the keynote address for the conference. Cloward H2O is a global company that focuses on the design and engineering of water and the company has built water parks, aquariums, marine parks, hotels, fountains for public facilities and other projects.
The Women’s Success Center at UVU organized and hosted the event.
