Women Supporting Women in the Sciences: Implementation of professional development workshops aimed at empowering women and girls in Tanzania

Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are underrepresented across the world, making up about 29% of the STEM workforce [1]. Improving this representation potentially requires a myriad of approaches, including spurring elementary- and secondary-level girls' interests in STEM and promoting the retention of women studying STEM at the university level. With these approaches in mind, Women Supporting Women in the Sciences (WS2) began as a collaborative effort between Northwestern University and several universities in Tanzania (TZ) in late 2018. The overarching mission of WS2 is to leverage past experiences and shared resources to work together, learn from each other, and support women in STEM globally. In early 2019, WS2 created curricula for professional development workshops focused on (1) career development and (2) organizing as women in STEM. These two workshops were designed for secondary- and university-level students, and upon finalization, TZ facilitators were trained on the workshop content via virtual meetings. This talk will discuss the two workshops created by WS2, as well as outcomes to date from their implementation in TZ in late 2020 and long-term goals of the WS2 program.
[1] http://uis.unesco.org/