Pink Space Theory Sparks a Love for STEM in Virginian Schools
Pink Space Theory works to spark a love for STEAM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) in girls and minorities, and our mobile makerspace is based in the Washington D.C. area. Our most recent event saw us uniting with one of our successful Pink Space Theory volunteers – Yuktha. Yuktha, a Virginia Commonwealth University student, hosted several talks about bioinformatics at High Schools in Manassas and Henrico, Virginia. Yuktha decided to pilot the talk at former high school in Henrico, Virginia. We were ecstatic to have over 50 students participate in the pilot and the actual event to learn more about Bioinformatics.
These talks aimed to raise awareness for career opportunities in STEM for women and minorities, of which there is still a severe underrepresentation at universities and in the workplace. They also gave students the opportunity to participate in interactive activities to expand their understanding and learning.
Yuktha is a third-year undergraduate student in the Bioinformatics program, which is where biology and computer science meet. It’s purpose is to develop technological methods and software to understand biological data, especially in large data sets. Bioinformatics is vital in the interpretation of data that can lead to world-changing discoveries in the field of medicine, as well as other areas, which Yuktha will discuss at her events.
Yuktha is on the pre-medicine track, and so is in the perfect position to talk on the topic to High School students about all the different opportunities Bioinformatics presents. She shared her personal journey to how she came to be where she is today with over 70 people thus far and helped to further Pink Space Theory’s outreach.
Yuktha discussed how medicine, agriculture, and environmental topics meet in this area of study, how bioinformatics is beneficial for numerous industries, as well as how it can be applied in the real world. At Yuktha’s High School Talk, students participated in activities that explored the path of bacteriophage discovery through to computational analysis of a genome. This talk took students from a basic understanding of what bioinformatics is to how it is applied and the career opportunities available after studying Bioinformatics.
Students were inspired and wowed by Yuktha’s journey. She is trailblazing a path for other girls and women to follow, and sharing the importance of Bioinformatics with girls who may not otherwise learn about the topic or the opportunities it opens up. Yuktha is incredibly enthusiastic about these opportunities, and so is furthering our vision for more equality in STEM universities and workplaces by sharing her topic and journey with High School-aged girls who would like to learn more about Bioinformatics and Yuktha’s journey.
Events like these are vital to our cause here at Pink Space Theory, as they give students one-to-one contact with someone who is ahead of them and finding success in their field. Yuktha has helped show over 50 young women what their future could look like, the importance of her field, and widened their knowledge of what is possible in the STEM field. STEM subjects at school can often be dry, and so events like these with Yuktha help show High School-aged girls that there’s far more to scientific careers than what they may understand from their classes. For more information on future events and what we do, click here.