Girls to Graduates - Regional Roadshow

How many scientsits does it take to inspire the next generation?

The Girls to Graduates program sets out to engage and empower women and girls in STEM, and working with Macquarie University’s Widening Participation inROADS programs, which aims to raise awareness about the benefits of higher education while developing meaningful and long-lasting relationships between the University and regional communities, we spent a week doing just that. We loaded up two vans full with scientsits, representing all different science and engineering faculties and topics, to head to Maclean, Grafton, and Coffs Harbour, NSW, providing students with a taste of science. Complete with robotics coding workshops, DNA extractions, osteoarchaeology mysteries, and fossil touch tables, this was an excellent way to engage Year 10 students from our partner schools, as well as the public on our two Community Nights.

It was a pleasure to run workshops on dinosaur trackways for the students, and be able to answer all of the community’s dinosaur questions. A highlight of the event was delivering two Women in STEM panels specifically for the Year 9-12 girls at each school, providing a safe space to ask questions about the challenges we face working in male-dominated fields.