Young Women's Conference in STEM across the US

Women remain underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce, with the greatest disparities occurring in engineering and computer sciences.1 For almost 20 years, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has been working to change those statistics by providing a day-long conference in STEM for young women in grades 7-10. At the YWC, we invite 750+ young women to spend the day with prominent female scientists, engineers, and technology professionals. The face-to-face interaction and encouragement, exposure to cutting edge, hands-on experiments, and lectures by our experts, makes a career in STEM a tangible reality for conference attendees.

Since its inception, the YWC’s attendance has tripled in size; it is evident that a single one-day event in one location is insufficient to meet the demand.

In 2022, PPPL partnered with General Atomics (GA), in San Diego, and working with Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), the YWC was a successful bi-coastal event. Using the innovative online platform, 6Connex, we hosted an event that enabled us to reach students from NJ to CA. Our intent for 2023 and beyond, is to hold concurrent and/or consecutive YWC events at PPPL and General Atomics, with the goal of inspiring more young women to pursue their future in a STEM field.