WiSTEM - Women in STEM

Science Page, Back of Flip Card
Technology Page, Front of Flip Card
Forum
Home Page
Engineering

Inspiration

As four women who are passionate about STEM, we thought it would be a great contribution on our part to create a web application that encourages women to pursue STEM careers. STEM is oftentimes an intimidating career path, and we wished to build a platform that would make it a more accessible and supportive choice for women.

What it does

Our web application provides general information and information pertaining to women specifically centering around STEM career pathways. It also hosts a forum on the main page that allows for prospective STEM students to connect with professional women in these careers for greater insight into being a woman in a predominantly male field.

How we built it

The layout of the website was accomplished through multiple CSS and HTML files, using Bootstrap to streamline the appearance. The information and resources provided on our website were coded using HTML. The forum utilizes Google’s Firebase Realtime database to store user comments. We configured Firebase and used Javascript functions to read and write data to the database. Then we displayed that data on our HTML page.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into challenges connecting Firebase and reading and displaying data from Firebase Realtime Database appropriately. We also had trouble brainstorming the organization of our website, since we wanted to be able to both provide information and give users access to a forum but we didn’t want to create too many different pages or have too much text on a page at any given time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to organize and display information in an aesthetically pleasing and accessible way, and we were able to create a functioning forum by storing data in Firebase Realtime Database.

What we learned

We learned many helpful programming techniques by researching on stackOverflow and websites like W3Schools and MDN web docs whenever we had a question about how an HTML, JS, or CSS code snippet worked. We also learned that it is very important to increase diversity and engagement in STEM, especially regarding women in STEM. Through the creation of websites and apps, we can educate others and help make an impact on gender equity in STEM fields.

What's next for WiSTEM

The WiSTEM you see today is only a demo of what it could be. With more time and resources, WiSTEM could expand to cover more topics with a greater wealth of information, including famous women in these fields, popular companies and internships, and suitable traits and values for potential students. Furthermore, the forum can grow to allow for different forms of communication and post-searching. However, we believe that what truly makes WiSTEM unique and long-lasting are its users and the community that roots within the platform. We think of WiSTEM as alive and evolving, and the greatest resource it provides is in the people it connects.

1. Who will this hack impact?

This hack will specifically impact young women scholars interested in pursuing STEM careers. We aim to increase diversity and engagement in STEM. By addressing the audience of women potentially seeking to enter this area of study, this website will provide additional information which will substantiate their search. It also provides a women-oriented perspective which will effectively show the need to change the current gender gap. Through an interactive forum, we seek to cultivate a network of support among women and to give newcomers insights into how women can overcome the challenges they face as a minority in STEM careers.

2. How is the project innovative?

This project speaks directly to the audience of young female students, and it serves as a technological bridge to build support and promote communication among women in STEM. The innovation behind our hack is that its influence extends beyond technology, it is a platform that shapes society. Our hack combines general information and information directed towards women, and in addition to providing information and resources, our project also includes a forum where students can ask questions, communicate with peers, and reach out to other professionals in the STEM community.

3. What frameworks and tools were used to build the project?

Our project is a website that uses Javascript, HTML, and CSS. The website implements Bootstrap and stores data in Firebase Realtime Database. The project was coded on Repl.it.

4. How can this project extend to make the present and the future a kinder place?

This project can extend to make the present and future a kinder place by giving young women a dedicated platform from which they can discover careers in STEM, which they were once excluded from. Even now, women are a minority in STEM fields and this only propagates the continued discrepancy among gender representations in the workforce. With stronger support networks among women and greater access to resources and opportunities, this project has the potential to improve gender representation and diversity in STEM workforces.