Watch

Opening Up the STEM World to Girls of Color

Creator:
Published:
May 20, 2024
October 7, 2019
Girls-in-Stem|Girls-in-Stem-Square

Only 4% of engineers in the US are black or Latina women. Yamilée Touissant Beach is on a mission to help minority girls get excited about a future in STEM careers.

"You can say anything about me, but you can't take away my education," she shares. "It's only fair that we make that accessible to all students."

Video Transcript

Yamilée Touissant Beach: I'm driven by fairness. I felt so empowered when I had my engineering degree. You can say anything about me, but you can't take away my education. To me, it's only fair that we make that accessible to all students.

Black and Latina women make up only 4% of America’s engineers.

STEM From Dance is an organization where we are getting girls excited about a future in the STEM careers. Dance gives us an awesome opportunity to put STEM in a different light, sort of shake the stereotype of what it means to be a scientist or an engineer — that it can be creative, it can be expressive, it can be fun. We do that through a summer program called Girls Rise Up, as well as school residencies throughout the school year. We come with a dance instructor, a STEM instructor, who partner together to help the girls create a dance performance that involves STEM in some kind of way.

When I dance, I feel it from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I feel the music, I feel the experience, I can feel what I want to do next. And I think there's something about that that's really empowering.

Thinking about my experience in STEM and dance, how can I take what I have learned and what I've been given and offer it to those who may not have access? That's what led me to start STEM From Dance. Our goal is to counteract all of the negative messages, the negative stereotypes that are against our girls of color when it comes to STEM, with all these positive, encouraging messages about what they're capable of, about who they are, about the people around them that will support them.

Student: I am proud of what I have achieved.

Group: I am proud of what I have achieved.

Student: And each day, I am becoming more confident, determined, and focused.

Group: And each day, I am becoming more confident, determined, and focused.

Yamilée: I think we should all be passionate about finding ways to get that least likely student to have access to this path that is fulfilling, it's exciting, it's secure, it's lucrative. All students should have access to that. And that's why I do what I do.

Speaker 1: Drum roll. Strength and confidence.

Creators:
Grotto
Published:
May 20, 2024
October 7, 2019
On a related note...
How I Decided to Stay Home with My Kids

How I Decided to Stay Home with My Kids

Mary Ann Wilson

How I Unlocked the Spiritual Reality of Belonging

How I Unlocked the Spiritual Reality of Belonging

Renée Roden

Finding Humor and Healing in Recovery

Finding Humor and Healing in Recovery

Grotto

Meet the Nun Fighting to Abolish the Death Penalty

Meet the Nun Fighting to Abolish the Death Penalty

Lisa Greey Lytwyn

5 Ways to Turn Photography Into a Restorative Hobby — Even With Your Phone Camera

5 Ways to Turn Photography Into a Restorative Hobby — Even With Your Phone Camera

Jacqueline Rose

3 Pregnancy Loss Poems to Comfort Grieving Parents

3 Pregnancy Loss Poems to Comfort Grieving Parents

Grotto

#RejuvenateTheChurch Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

#RejuvenateTheChurch Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

Free Download: Grotto's Guide to Lakeview

Free Download: Grotto's Guide to Lakeview

Grotto, Jennon Bell Hoffman

Kombucha Brewer Takes Holistic Health Approach

Kombucha Brewer Takes Holistic Health Approach

Grotto

All She Ever Knew was Immense Love

All She Ever Knew was Immense Love

Michelle King

What You Need to Know About the "Sober Curious" Trend

What You Need to Know About the "Sober Curious" Trend

Anna O'Neil

"New Year's"

"New Year's"

Dana Gioia

An Open Letter to Anyone Sick with COVID-19

An Open Letter to Anyone Sick with COVID-19

Josh Noem

I'm 25 and Nearly Broke — Does Tithing Apply to Me?

I'm 25 and Nearly Broke — Does Tithing Apply to Me?

Andrew Mentock

We See Ourselves in 007, But Not For the Reasons You Might Think

We See Ourselves in 007, But Not For the Reasons You Might Think

Julia Weir

Why I’m Ready for ESPN’s Documentary on the Bulls

Why I’m Ready for ESPN’s Documentary on the Bulls

Liz Colleran

The Commencement Address We Can’t Stop Thinking About

The Commencement Address We Can’t Stop Thinking About

Mike Jordan Laskey

Facing the Pandemic as a Single Person

Facing the Pandemic as a Single Person

Grace Carroll

Mapping Catholic Lands to Save the Planet

Mapping Catholic Lands to Save the Planet

Grotto

How a Discernment Process Empowers Boldness

How a Discernment Process Empowers Boldness

Dan Masterton

newsletter

We’d love to be pals.

Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll meet you in your inbox each week.