‘Expand Your Horizons’ gets young women thinking about science careers

In the early 1990s, Cara Wall Scheffler attended an Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference as a middle school student in Seattle. She met talented scientists, got a taste of electrical engineering by making extension cords, and saw that a career in science was a definite option.

Now, Wall Scheffler, a postdoctoral research associate in zoology at UW–Madison, will be returning to EYH, only this time as a presenter. She’s one participant in a daylong ‘Horizons’ workshop on Saturday, Nov. 5 at Union South on the UW–Madison campus. More than 65 women will present this year from various fields including biology, engineering, health and medicine, mathematics and physical sciences.

“It was an amazing experience,” Wall Scheffler says of Horizons. “We saw women who were incredibly talented at what they did, but also balanced husbands, children and lives outside of science. That was inspiring.”

EYH is a national effort that includes career exploration and activities for middle school girls in science, engineering and mathematics. UW–Madison has paired with the nationwide program in 1981, but has been offering workshops for young women to explore scientific careers since 1959.

Now, UW–Madison utilizes the talents of individuals from Edgewood College, MATC, the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Black Hawk Council of Girl Scouts to make EYH a community effort. The organizations engage in both planning as well as presenting career sessions during the conference.

“It’s the most collaborative event or organization I’ve worked with,” EYH co-chair Heather Daniels says. Daniels is the UW Neuroscience Training Program Student Services Coordinator as well as a member of Sigma Delta Epsilon-Graduate Women in Science, the organization that held the first workshop in 1959.

“Everyone contributes a piece of the pie. One of the joys of the conference is to see collaboration between so many organizations in the community creating something exciting and worthwhile for the girls,” Daniels says.

In the past, participants have been able to work with a welder, production engineers from Kraft, medical assistants and lab technicians, an interior designer, veterinary technicians and engineers. The Kraft foods pudding production has been the most popular career session and this year, to add a little variety, students will be trying to create a new color of pudding.

“We get a broad representation in the varying levels of careers,” Daniels says.

Also this year, participants will be competing to build the best boat during the afternoon session. Students will receive a set amount of materials and then collaborate with team members on how to engineer a boat that will outlast others before it tips or sinks. Another presenter will be bringing in a canine and letting students listen to the dog’s heart to explore cardiology.

Wall Scheffler will be presenting on her research on human evolution, but also hopes to discuss how scientists consider evidence and make interpretations about the world.

According to the national Math/Science Network, women only comprise 16 percent of the science and engineering workforce.

“It’s very difficult to imagine yourself in a position if you don’t see people like yourself,” says Jennifer Sheridan, UW–Madison’s Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute research director. “I don’t underestimate the power of [role models] and I think EYH does a nice job of making that a reality for girls.”

For more information about the conference, contact Daniels at (608) 262-4932 or visit the EYH Web site.