As we celebrate Women’s History Month and look at the empowering women before us, we’re also looking to the future.
Last week, Adobe hosted a youth panel, titled “Young Women Talk About What’s Next,” consisting of five future women leaders. The panel provided fresh insight into the challenges and opportunities for young women today. Moderated by Toni Vanwinkle, Senior Director, Digital Workplace Experience, the panel included young women from diverse backgrounds, sparking conversations about what it’s like to be a young woman today, what gender balance means to them, the workplace of the future, and how they are pursuing their dreams.
Panelists included Ashley Boudeville, a sixth grader and co-founder of Color Cruiser LLC, an art and craft store. Nishita Belur, a high school sophomore and student ambassador for Technovation. Camille Harris, a senior at UC Berkeley where she’s completing a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science, and is the President of the Black Engineering and Science Student Association (BESSA). Cadence Patrick, a Digital Media student at Oakland School for the Arts and a student ambassador for Black Girls Code. And Srishti Sehtia, a Software Engineer who joined Adobe by teaching herself to code and participating in the Adobe Digital Academy. Here are some of our takeaways from the event.
There’s no shortage of ways to get involved in STEM
Although there’s a smaller percentage of women in STEM careers, for the panelists, they all had different ways into how they first got involved.
Ashley first got interested in math and science when her father got her a science kit, which helped her come to love science. Cadence got introduced to technology when she participated in a hackathon that taught her how to create her own app. For Srishti, it was having the opportunity to teach herself technical skills by participating in Adobe’s Digital Academy to reinvent herself.
So it’s not about a lack of interest in STEM—it’s about retaining that interest afterwards, and making sure women feel supported in these fields of study and have role models.