February 11th is the International day of Women and Girls in Science and we have been busy this week at our STEM Girls club developing new projects with their creative sides with their scientific minds.
While our clubs are inclusive to young people of all genders, our STEM Girls club every Wednesday is the club where we focus on the contributions of women and non-binary people in STEM related fields and encouraging our own young people to discover their passions and pursue STEM-related activities.
Each week, we tie our club activity into elements involving science, math, art and engineering through the use of technology. We currently have projects involving video editing and discussing the harmful effects of the fast fashion industry in our upcoming sessions and we are very excited to see what our STEM Girls are planning to create involving inspiration from important and often overlooked women that have played an incredible part in developing our world with their STEM skills. However, our STEM girls also have free space to play, explore and have fun with a wide range of STEM-based activities such as 3D design/printing, vinyl cutting and coding.
STEM Girls offers a space for girls and young women to come together and understand and challenge outdated views and stereotypes in STEM. Many of our young people have a genuine passion for STEM activities and this space allows them to express that freely. One of our STEM girls’ states what attracts them to it is “all of my hyper fixations come from STEM things. I’m really obsessed with math, mainly mental revision. I also love chemistry. I find it easier to focus on things that really need focus.”
Throughout this week and in the coming months, we are planning several STEM projects that STEM Girls and other weekly clubs will be involved in creating and we can’t wait to see both the creative and scientific ways they will come up with to make their ideas a reality.
To sign up for free to STEM Girls every Wednesday, as well as our other free weekly youth clubs, please register on our Eventbrite page. You can also call 0141 889 2876 or drop into our space at 39 High street. To keep up with our club activity and information for our future projects, follow us on Twitter (@YMCAPaisley), Instagram (@paisleyymca) and Facebook at We are Paisley YMCA. We hope to see you there!