Madeleine Coles
Life Editor
The 17th annual Women and Work Conference will be held March 8, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The conference, which is put on by the Center for New Directions encourages high school girls to look into nontraditional careers, specifically careers in STEM fields.
Although the attendees are mostly high school students, the conference is open to ISU students or members of the Pocatello community.
In fact, according to Dianne Norton, a licenced professional counselor at the Center for New Directions, when the conference first began, it was intended for women in the community as a way to help them explore other career options. Eventually, they started inviting high schools to attend, and it has grown into a primarily high school-oriented event.
The conference begins with registration and a continental breakfast, followed by a welcome ceremony and a “sneak peek” of the keynote speaker.
This year’s keynote speaker is Krystal Chanda, a licensed professional engineer who graduated from ISU and was recently the lead design engineer for the Portneuf Wellness Complex project.
Then comes the longest and arguably most fun portion of the conference: career exploration. Participants choose from 19 possible career pairings, including careers such as biology, engineering technologies, robotics and law enforcement. The explorations are held all around campus, and the girls are able to physically participate in the careers they’re learning about. For example, in one biology workshop, participants will be dissecting or observing a sheep brain.
“We’ve really found that the hands-on stuff is the best thing,” Norton said. “[Girls] need to be up doing stuff, and that’s the way they learn. Another benefit is that it builds their feelings of self-efficacy.”
After the career explorations, attendees will be treated to lunch in the ballroom while their parents (if they attend) will be at their own workshop entitled “Supporting Your STEM Student.”
That will be followed by the career showcase.
“Basically it’s a fashion show,” Norton said. “But we don’t call it a fashion show because it’s not about heels and jewelry. It’s about educating them about education.”
During the career showcase, women who are currently enrolled STEM programs at ISU and women in STEM-related fields in the community walk a runway of sorts, showing off what they wear to work and tools they often use in their job.
“It’s often the highlight of the conference,” said Marlene Darling, another LPC who works at the center. “It gives the women and girls in the audience a chance to see role models.”
The day will be rounded out by rewarding participants with prizes (including a grand prize of a $500 ISU scholarship, awarded to a high school senior) and the keynote speech.
“We educate them, we pamper them, we encourage them, and we inspire them,” Darling said. “It’s a happy day.”
According to Norton, reasons for attending the conference are twofold.
“First off, STEM careers are very lucrative,” she said. “And women are needed in them and welcome in them, and they just give them very good opportunities. And secondly, we have grant funding that specifically asks us to [encourage women in those careers.]”
Although the Women and Work Conference is perhaps its biggest endeavor, the Center for New Directions works year-round to assist both men and women in entering nontraditional career fields.
“We want them to feel empowered. We want them to open their minds to options and follow their dreams,” Norton said.
