GE Girls Summer Program at Northeastern Engages Middle School Students in STEM
The GE Women’s Network of GE Corporate has partnered with Northeastern University’s Center for STEM Education in the College of Engineering to sponsor GE Girls, a five-day summer program for 30 rising 7th and 8th grade girls from Boston. Held July 10-14, 2017, participants were given the opportunity to further their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and learn more about college in addition to learning firsthand from women pursuing and currently engaged in STEM fields. The middle school students learned about the Grand Challenges of Engineering and how GE is addressing many of those challenges through a variety of hands-on STEM activities, demonstrations, field trips and laboratory visits.
“We are committed to fostering the next-generation of scientists and engineers by creating awareness of and interest in various STEM careers through a range of exploratory summer programs geared to middle and high school students. We are thrilled to partner with GE Corporate to bring GE Girls to our campus and provide even more opportunity for youth to experience STEM and help shape their future,” commented Claire Duggan, director, Center for STEM Education, Northeastern University.
GE Girls began seven years ago when GE CEO Jeff Immelt approached the GE Women’s Network asking how GE could help get young women interested in science and technology, and ultimately, into meaningful jobs in those fields. Today, GE Girls offers 12 camps across the country; Northeastern’s is only the second in Massachusetts.
GE partnered with Northeastern University’s Center for STEM Education to develop a curriculum to introduce participants to engineering and the design process, and allow them the opportunity to learn firsthand about challenges and developments in healthcare, aviation and other topics that directly translate to GE’s core values: building, moving, powering, and curing.