Salem Academy and College has received a nearly $750,000, three-year grant from NASA as a part of an initiative to help close the gender gap in STEM professionals.
Salem was one of seven women’s colleges across the country to receive part of $5 million in funding from NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project. This is Salem’s first-ever grant from the agency.
In education and workforce, women are outpaced by their male counterparts when it comes to STEM fields.
While women earn 59% of all undergraduate degrees, only 10% of those are in a STEM field, according to the National Center of Education Statistics. And the pattern does not end there, as women represent 47% of the workforce but only 27% of STEM jobs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“As the nation’s oldest educational institution for girls and women, Salem has been for over 250 years and continues to be today a leader at the forefront of women’s education,” said Summer Johnson McGee, president of Salem Academy and College. “It is fitting that Salem was chosen to be one of the pioneers to create opportunities for women to lead and blaze new trails all the way into space.”
The nation’s only all-female boarding and day high school on a college campus, Salem Academy has recently shifted its curriculum to a STEAM focus. It follows suit from its collegiate counterpart, Salem College, which, in 2021, announced a focus on health leadership.
Salem will use the funding for a three-year program, called “Soar with Salem,” for high school and college students. The program will focus on providing support and resources to increase the likelihood that women pursue STEM-related education and careers.
“Soar with Salem” will bring high school students to campus during the summer for academic support in science, math and the arts and for mentorship by Salem Academy and College students.
As part of the program, Salem will expand its existing affiliation with North Forsyth High School, which also has a focus on STEM and health. “Soar with Salem” will also create a partnership with the United Way of Forsyth County.
The co-principal investigators of the grant are Rebecca Dunn, biology professor and director of the Women in Science and Mathematics program at Salem College, and Kris Porazzi Sorrells, Salem Academy’s Head of School and math and robotics instructor.
The other women’s colleges receiving NASA funding for MUREP are:
- Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia;
- Alverno College in Milwaukee;
- Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania;
- College of Saint Mary in Omaha;
- Simmons University in Boston;
- Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
