Women in STEM, also known as the “Steminist Club” is a new club at WFS where people, specifically women, talk about different ways to be involved in the STEM world. To be clear, even though the term “steminist” is a play of off the word “feminist,” which typically involves more women than men, the Steminists welcome everyone in order to provide a greater understanding of STEM for all. This club is working towards creating more opportunities and spreading new ideas within the Wilmington Friends School community.

    STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, but with each category comes so many more different options besides just the usual jobs associated with STEM, such as programming and accounting. The Steminist club is sponsored by Sarah Stock Patterson, upper school math teacher, and is co-clerked by Olivia Finizio ’19 and Alonia Needs ’19. When questioned about the purpose of the Steminist club, Finizio who said that it was created “in hope that the ideas we bring to the upper school community will empower everyone, especially women, to not only pursue a career in STEM, but to discover options that are outside the general ideas of what the field has to offer.” The Steminist club is an important group which provides a better understanding of the world of STEM and empowers those who are apart of it.

    The Steminist club is beneficial to the school in particular because it helps to close the gender gap that can be seen in many classes and clubs. Sarah Stock Patterson explained that, “The more we can promote differences of opinion in STEM related to or in any field that is not as balanced as it could be, you just bring in the opportunities for more creativity and more ideas, and bringing more females into STEM-related interests in high school would get them into more jobs, and again promote a broader diversity of thought.” The Steminists are actively working to improve gender diversity at Wilmington Friends School to provide more opportunities to young women who are interested in a career in STEM or just interested in learning in general. As Needs said, “We just wanted those women to get a chance in a club where it was mainly women to feel free to express their interests for STEM, since many of the science clubs at our school tend to have more numbers in men than women… The club is all about trying to get more women interested in the STEM fields so that we can have more females in society who can prove that they are just as great/equal as men are.”

    The Steminist club is focused on the future of women by working with the young women at our school to become more involved in different activities. In life at and beyond WFS, there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of gender equality, and the Steminist club is determined to help bring about that improvement by providing information about the field of STEM that will hopefully guide its members towards a career that is perfect for them.

    In STEM Club, one would be able to learn of different job opportunities, meet other students who are interested in STEM, and develop a greater understanding of the entire field. The Steminist Club also helps to bring young women together in an effort create greater gender equality. The club plans to bring in speakers to talk about STEM. The Steminist Club meets on Day 1 in room 152 at Lunch!