For many children, it can be challenging to imagine a career in STEM, or even know what those careers are in the first place.

On October 5, Liberty Science Center partnered with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Jersey City Public Schools, FHI 360, and Junior Achievement of New Jersey (JANJ) to hold LSC’s first Women in STEM event, a workshop aimed at getting young children – especially girls – interested and excited about careers in science, technology, engineering, math, manufacturing, and design.

“A lot of these kids might not be as exposed to STEM professionals as they should be,” said Monica Mean of FHI 360. “This is a great opportunity for them to meet STEM professionals, particularly female professionals, and hopefully they will be able to see themselves one day in a STEM career.”

100 elementary students from PS 30 and PS 33 in Jersey City attended the workshop. Along with volunteers from J&J and teenagers from local high schools – known as “High School Heroes” – the students explored the building, interacted with animals, and made friends with LSC educators.

“When you take the students out of the classroom and bring them to a remarkable facility like this one, you’re bringing science to life,” said JANJ president Catherine Milone. “The enthusiasm here is so contagious that the children walk away and say ‘I want to do this when I grow up.’”

The event also coincided with J&J’s new initiative, WiSTEM2D, to encourage girls and women globally to better engage in STEM.

“Many of our jobs at J&J are underrepresented by females,” said Michael Bzdak, director of corporate contributions at J&J. “Our goal is to get them interested in these jobs while they’re young, and then go to college, and then we can hire them.”

Kengo Yamada, a STEM enrichment specialist at LSC, said that events like these are so important because many children are often uncomfortable or scared around science.

“A girl asked me today if I’ve ever been scared of the animals here at Liberty Science Center,” Yamada said. “I love that question. I told her that I was scared of the animals at first, but after lots of practice and having friends at the Science Center that helped me feel comfortable, I wasn’t scared anymore.”

To learn more about STEM education at Liberty Science Center, click here.