Women veterans bring many strengths to the civilian workforce, such as leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving skills, as well as resilience and persistence. Education Development Center (EDC) has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to examine how to leverage the unique strengths of women veterans to address barriers to their engagement in the STEM workforce. To this end, they are hosting a virtual convening on this topic taking place March 2–5, 2021.
The VWEC invites you to this virtual convening to help:
identify and prioritize strategies to develop and leverage existing services
stimulate new ideas to provide more targeted outreach to engage, train, and retain women veterans in the STEM workforce
The objectives of the convening are to:
Provide an overview of the project, its goals, and the importance of engaging women veterans in the STEM Workforce.
Build a common understanding of the landscape of women veterans' assets and challenges they face in the four focus areas.
Make recommendations to address barriers to engaging women veterans in the STEM workforce.
Identify and prioritize opportunities to scale recommendations related to policies, practices and funding needs for multiple key stakeholder audiences.
The schedule and topics for the convening are:
March 2, 2021 1:00–4:30 EST: The Future of Women Vets in STEM Plenary
Participants will be provided an overview of the project and hear from nationally recognized women veterans on their experiences transitioning from service to the workforce in Ted Talk-style keynote addresses. Our Founder/CEO will be participating in this segment of the Convening.March 3, 2021, 1:00–3:00 EST: Transition Services and STEM Workforce Development (concurrent) Work Group Discussions and Recommendations
Participants will have the opportunity to provide and prioritize recommendations to address barriers and leverage strengths in one of these focus areas.March 4, 2021, 1:00–3:00 EST: STEM Education and Health and Well-being (concurrent) Work Group Discussions and Recommendations
Participants will have the opportunity to provide and prioritize recommendations to address barriers and leverage strengths in one of these focus areas.March 5, 2021, 1:00–4:00 EST: Conference Closing - Work Group Summaries, Discussant Panels, and Next Steps
A panel of employers and federal agencies will discuss recommendations from the previous days. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide input on the recommendations.
Participants will also be invited to join optional networking sessions prior to the start of each day, which are hosted by STEM industry representatives.
Register here now for the convening!
We hope you will participant in this virtual convening and help us to strengthen and scale the impact of existing initiatives to support women veterans’ success in the STEM workforce.
You can find out more about the project on their website and follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn for project updates, news, and resources.