Frequently Asked Questions
Women earn a fraction of STEM degrees and represent an even smaller portion of the workforce in most STEM disciplines, including engineering, physics, and computer science. The disparity is not because females aren’t good at STEM! On average, females receive higher grades in school in every subject including high school math and science. Females earn more credits in math and science courses than boys, and female high school graduates have a higher combined GPA in math and science courses than boys. Despite these achievements, girls are not readily choosing many STEM college majors and career paths. They are more likely to secure degrees in the humanities and life and social sciences.
Consistent gender differences have emerged among children and adolescents in terms of their interest in math and science, their beliefs about their abilities in math and science, and their perceptions of the importance of math and science for their futures. Research suggests that girls are attentive to the behaviors of women in their culture and model those behaviors. Given this, girls’ attitudes regarding scientists and engineers have been influenced by the lack of female representation in the media. With an absence of role models, many girls tend to view science and technology as an unsuitable career choice and personally irrelevant to their lives.
Because social and environmental factors contribute to the underrepresentation of girls in STEM, intentional and focused intervention efforts targeting girls and women are recommended to address the gender gaps within STEM careers. Thus, our mission is to empower young women to be successful in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses in order to close the gender gap in STEM careers. We do this by providing interactive, engaging, and inspiring STEM camps for girls that:
- Increase young women’s confidence in science and math concepts and conducting scientific investigations.
- Increase young women’s academic performance in STEM courses.
- Increase young women’s passion in pursuing STEM majors and careers.
Most of our camps are offered in partnership with school districts, so priority will go to students who attend school in those districts. If we have openings available in May, we may be able to allow other students to participate.
We encourage students living in other districts to attend the one open enrollment camp that we offer each year at UT Dallas.
This depends on the camp. Typically, students who plan to take their first Physics course in the Fall will get the most out of the camp. No specific prerequisites are required.
The instructors are AP Physics teachers from local high schools in the area that know how to make summer camp fun and informative. Check out the staff bios to learn more about the camp instructors.
Each day the camp starts with a wake-up activity where the teacher performs demonstrations about physics concepts that we encounter in everyday life. We have a lab and a guest speaker in the morning and then take a break for lunch. In the afternoon we have a lecture and another lab or hands-on activity. We will learn about electricity and visit a high tech company during the first week. During the second week we learn about motion, kinematics and have fun with liquid nitrogen demonstrations.
You do not need to bring a lunch. Lunch and a snack will be provided each day.
We have graphing calculators for you to use during camp, therefore you do not need to bring your own.
You will be put into lab groups of 2 or 3 people. We like to mix up the lab groups each day so that you can meet new people during the camp.
A camper can be dropped of as early as 8:30 am each morning of camp.
All campers must be picked up by 3:30pm each afternoon.
Scholarships for free tuition will be prioritized to those who can attend the full camp. You can still sign up for camp even if you cannot come for the whole time. But the price of the camp is not discounted if you miss some days of the camp. The material covered during the week builds on top of the prior days. But the material in week two is independent of the material covered in week one.
For most camps, tuition is free. When registering for an open session, yes, there are a limited number of scholarships. Please click on the scholarship application button to apply. Scholarships for those that qualify will be given on a first come basis.
Yes, you can pay for camp tuition in three installments. The final installment payment for camp is due on May 31.
If you withdraw your registration for camp prior to May 31st, you will get a refund minus the registration fee of $50.