Giving Opportunities at Berkeley

Support Girls in Engineering!

Together, we can help make engineering more welcoming to all, regardless of race, gender, or economic background, and inspire the next generation of engineers!

Girls in Engineering (GiE) is a K-12 outreach program aimed at increasing diversity in engineering. The program runs a summer camp with four week-long sessions, designed and taught by UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students, and annually serving 120 Bay Area middle school students. Started in 2014, GiE provides a safe, supportive, and inclusive space for students to gain exposure to and build capacity in STEM through hands-on workshops and real-world problem-solving. This immersive experience exposes campers to a broad range of STEM fields and offers campers a chance to develop hard and soft skills, hone their critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills, and gain intuition, understanding, and confidence through doing. 

With your gift, this is all possible!

OUR VISION

Society benefits when everyone can contribute to and anyone can thrive in a STEM field.

BACKGROUND

Berkeley’s Girls in Engineering program was started in 2014 to address the gender and racial disparities that exist in engineering and the STEM fields. The program: 

   (1) focuses on middle school students when students begin to lose interest in engineering, 

   (2) offers hands-on design experiences, 

   (3) addresses meaningful projects that could benefit society, and 

   (4) builds a supportive and encouraging community to help students thrive. 

This project-based, experiential learning approach with a focus on design thinking, creative problem solving, and hands-on making is the basis for the Girls in Engineering STE(Art)M pedagogy.

Unlike traditional summer camps, students must apply to the program and demonstrate their interest in attending camp. This ensures that participants are ready to learn of their own accord rather than of their parents’ choosing. Prior experience is not necessary, especially given that the camp curriculum is aimed at introducing STEM through deep dives and broad strokes.

Your support enables us to offer more scholarships!

INCREASING ACCESS THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS

To make camp accessible to all students, we offer full and partial scholarships. Families that qualify for government assistance programs automatically qualify for a GiE scholarship. This covers the cost of camp plus all materials, supplies, meals, and snacks. In addition, GiE advertises directly to local Title 1 schools and community organizations to actively attract students that would benefit from the scholarship program.

A gift of any amount takes us one step closer!

ELEMENTS OF CAMP

• Hands-on Learning (Applied Engineering) — Hands-on learning is a hallmark of the Girls in Engineering program. Interactive modules put participants in the driver’s seat, encouraging them to explore, ask questions, make mistakes, and discover their own answers.

• Team Building and Leadership — Participants work in small teams focused on designing innovative solutions to real-world problems of their choosing and presenting their solutions to families and friends during the design showcase at the end of the week.

• Mentorship — Introducing campers to mentors with whom they can relate shows them that they have a place in engineering. From high school counselors-in-training to industry professionals, campers meet those that came before them and show them they’re not alone.

• Campus and College Life Introduction — Campers get a taste of campus life, visit state-of-the-art engineering labs and facilities, tour iconic campus landmarks, and eat at a dining hall. This introduction to college life is especially critical for first-generation college students, who may have limited exposure to a college campus and lack a support network. 

Your gift can make a difference!

GiE IN THE NEWS: VIRTUALLY ENGAGING FOR SUMMER 2020

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, GiE pivoted online and offered camp FREE of charge to all participants this past summer. Chromebooks and WiFi hotspots were provided to students who didn’t have access to these resources, and kits of parts were provided at no cost. Additionally, campers had access to five weeks of camp, with a unique curriculum each day. Read more about it here or in the Fall 2020 Berkeley Engineer magazine. 

As donors, your contribution makes a direct and positive impact on a middle schooler's life!

YOUR SUPPORT COUNTS!

Your support goes to purchasing camp materials and supplies, providing scholarships, developing assets for camp, and covering staff salaries. The $600 camp fee is necessary to cover our expenses involved with providing a high-quality, hands-on summer camp with a 5:1 camper to staff ratio. Your help will allow us to reach more students, especially those that need it the most.

DOES YOUR COMPANY GIFT-MATCH?

Not sure if your company has a matching gift program? Check here! Email us at gie@berkeley.edu or matchinggifts@berkeley.edu with questions.

CONNECT WITH US

Email: gie@berkeley.edu

Website: girlsinengineering.berkeley.edu

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BerkeleyGirlsinEngineering

YouTube: GiE YouTube Channel

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