STEM Day planned for Black girls to increase representation in the industry

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- During Black History Month, ABC13 is putting Black women in STEM under the microscope.

According to some estimates, they make up less than 3% of the workforce in that field.

That's part of the reason Kara Branch founded "Black Girls Do Engineer."

Right now, the nonprofit is preparing for the second annual STEM Day For Girls.

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ABC13 spoke with Kara Branch, founder of "Black Girls Do Engineer," on her work to introduce young girls to STEM.

The event is designed to introduce girls of color as young as eight to women who look like them in STEM careers like artificial intelligence, robotics, coding, and digital animation.

Branch also said there will be hands-on activities, along with their own curriculum designed to show these girls everything they can achieve as our nation's next scientists.

"(For) many girls, I'm the first Black woman chemical engineer they've ever seen before. They don't have a lot of Black women they know who do these things and exposure because there's no resources in a lot of underserved communities to know what STEM is or have that awareness. That's where 'Black Girls Do Engineer' comes in," Branch said.

This year's second annual STEM Day For Girls is expected to have more than 150 girls between ages 8-17. The day's program will include 11 hands-on STEM activities with students separated by grade and age level.

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