ISU: Women's Leadership Summit By: Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID
During the free Women’s Leadership Summit in May, over 50 female high school students from rural parts of Idaho had the opportunity to learn about pursuing leadership roles within their communities, college preparation and readiness, and STEM literacy and awareness. The goals of the CAP team were to increase the number of young women who are actively involved in community leadership and enrolled in college.
At the Summit, held on the college campus, including one night stay, participants had the opportunity to do the following:
Friday:
- Attended a campus tour
- Heard a welcome message from the assistant director of the women's studies program
- Attended three workshops on topics like: college readiness, non-traditional careers, body image, financial literacy, self defense, women in sports, and leadership development
- Visited college information tables for the various colleges at the university, such as engineering, business, technology, arts & sciences, and education
- Dinner BBQ on campus
- Tie-Dying activity
- Ice-cream social and movie night
Saturday:
- Attended another workshop on topics offered Friday
- Recruitment Plenary
- Keynote address
- Lunch
Attendees also received a confrence shirt and bag filled with Idaho State University brochures and accessories.
The CAP team felt their major accomplishments for the Summit included creating a great mix of students who participated in the program. The CAP team was excited to bring a significantly higher percentage of Native American and Latina students to the conference than are found in the area high schools and they were pleased with how well they mixed in with the more standard demographic of a high school leader locally, which is white and wealthier. They had a 100 percent survey response rate and were able to measure significant learning outcomes amongst the participants. For example before the conference only about six percent were able to identify the STEM disciplines, after the conference almost 90 percent could recognize the STEM fields.
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