Women make up only 27% of workers in traditional Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) positions in some of the world’s emerging economies. CISCO’s “Girls Power Tech Day” event inspires female students to pursue careers in STEM fields. This is the first year students from Lake Washington School District participated in the event. Twenty-two students met with innovative women working in IT and engineering at the CISCO office in Bellevue on May 3.

Participants sat down with several professionals for speed mentoring sessions. Event sites from across the nation joined an interactive teleconference with a gold medal Paralympian. Students from around the world connected through a TelePresence Session to share ideas. These sessions, and more, gave the girls motivation to learn about educational and career opportunities in STEM fields.