STEM Connect +

An all-encompassing app for women in STEM to find connections with mentors, opportunities and a place to record their journey as they navigate through their careers.

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Inspiration

There is a discrepancy between the number of girls and women pursuing careers in STEM versus the number of boys and men. In fact, according to UNICEF, globally, 18% of girls in tertiary education are studying STEM compared to 35% of boys. This gender gap can be explained by factors such as lifestyle values, field-specific ability beliefs, gender-based stereotypes and bias. We wanted to create an app that connects girls and women in STEM to mentors and opportunities and foster an empowering community in order to bridge this gender gap and diversify the field.

What it does

STEM Connect+ is an app to help women in STEM navigate their careers and connect with a community that leaves them feeling empowered. Users have the ability to network with people all over the world who share similar aspirations and interests as them. Users can view posts and stories from other people as well as post their own content. STEM Connect+ has a focus on mentorship. The app uses an algorithm to match mentees to potential mentors based on their field of pursuit as well as career and mentorship goals. A direct messaging feature is also included which allows mentees and mentors to reach out, chat, and share posts. The app also has a unique journaling feature that enables users to track their moods and access resources that can improve their mental health. This can help users visualize their mood and hopefully recognize what triggers low moods and how they can cope.

How we built it

The app was developed on Replit using HTML, CSS, Javascript and C#. The prototype was designed on Figma as well as the wire-framing.

Challenges we ran into

In the beginning, our team had some trouble prioritizing what features we wanted to include in the app. All of us had many great contributions that we wanted to feature, so it was a bit of a challenge filtering through all our ideas and choosing the best few. We also had some trouble with our Figma design as some images were not appearing. However, due to our passion and drive to learn and promote STEM, we were able to present an app that we are proud of.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the effort and passion we put into our project! We wanted to create an app that could help build a community and make meaningful interactions between like-minded and driven people. We are proud to have created a project that has a unique focus on mental health and learn more about the app development process. We have come out of this experience with a stronger drive to learn!

What we learned

We had the opportunity to learn more about the app development process and how to work in a team effectively. We also learned more about algorithms and the different features of Figma.

What's next for STEM Connect+

We would love to be able to support video and audio calling on the STEM Connect+ app for users to connect with their mentors and peers! This feature can also be implemented in the journal feature, where users can keep voice and video recorded diaries. This feature could also allow users to post video content as well. We would also be interested in connecting with health professionals to produce content on the app covering issues such as stress management or imposter syndrome.

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