16 October 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – A local University is celebrating women in the science field.
About 250 middle school students joined Washburn University’s 15th annual Women in Science Day. The event was held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and included 21 labs for students to choose from, free of cost. The topics ranged from medical science and dissection to weather and volcanoes.
A study shows women become less interested in science when they reach middle school. A professor at Washburn University said that the goal of this event is to introduce students to the fun things science has to offer.
“We offer them a lot of different experiences, kind of tailored towards what they might be interested in,” Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Susan Bjerke said. “So, we’re just hoping they might experience a lab today and think, ‘Hey, I could do that someday.”
The event has grown since its first year, which only had nine lab options. Bjerke hopes to include engineering experiments next year.