The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that women hold fewer than 25 percent of all jobs in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Texas State Technical College is working to increase those statistics by hosting events geared toward young women.
TSTC hosted 'Women in Technology Day' on Oct. 19. The event brought in 250 young women from high schools across Central Texas. The event included a professional panel discussion, technical program tours, a recruiting presentation and a TSTC scholarship drawing.
"We want every female to know that there are no places that you can't go. You can do anything that you want to do," said Letha Novosad, electrical construction instructor at TSTC. "This morning we had girls using drills and screwdrivers, which is simple, but they may have never used one before. So for us, I think it's kind of empowering."
The students were able to explore a variety of careers, ranging from automotive to aviation technology.
"I was actually really excited to learn about technology because I never really opened my eyes to how much technology can do," said Paige Multon, a 10th grader at Oglesby High School. "Culinary has always been my thing, but I might do this if that doesn't work out."
"Not only men can do science and technology fields but women can do it too," said Zoe Herry, a 10th grader at Oglesby High School. "My favorite part of it was probably the hydraulics."
At TSTC, men make up 78 percent of the study body, which means there's little to no women in each class. TSTC will continue to work toward changing the status quo to show young women they can do anything they set their minds to.
"The electrical construction classes, unfortunately, haven't had a whole lot of females, but we currently have three females in the building construction program in our department and one plumber and I think it's excellent," said Novosad."
For more information on Texas State Technical College, click here: http://www.tstc.edu/.
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