Meet Emily Koehne, Founder of STEMilyK.org
High school student Emily Koehne had been enjoying her STEM program at school so much, she decided to create a site to promote women who have jobs in unique STEM fields by interviewing them. She posts the interviews on her website so that all girls can have access to a panel of encouraging and inspirational STEM mentors — something she did not have when she was younger. Her hope is that her site can help educate girls about all the opportunities that exist in STEM as well as raise awareness about the obstacles many women in the varying fields can face.
She took a few minutes to chat with Smart Girls about how much she loves 3-D printing and why creating this site was important to her.
SMART GIRLS: What specifically made you want to create your website?
EMILY KOEHNE: I’ve been in a STEM program since my freshman year and have been exposed to these [STEM] classes that I wouldn’t be able to take otherwise. I’ve already taken two computer programming classes, an engineering course in addition to a regular math/science rigorous curriculum. I was noticing that there weren’t a lot of girls really interested in the program and I asked myself why. I heard stories about people being made fun of for liking STEM. Then Marvel Studios had this competition for high school girls to make a video explaining a STEM topic and I really wanted to enter. So I 3-D printed this purple doll so it would represent all girls of all backgrounds and I named her STEMily — which is where the name of the site came from. In my video, I talked about the importance of women in STEM and how we need more.
Although Emily didn’t win, this contest and her classes inspired her to create something else — that’s where the website came in. She settled on the idea of showcasing interviews because she’s a big fan of public speaking and she wanted to show that STEM girls are NOT “the quiet ones in the back.”
“It was really important to me to show that we can also have great speaking abilities, know our ideas and how to communicate them.”
How do you decide who to interview and feature on the site?
I started with knowing absolutely no one in STEM. I first went to the women behind Edison video, because the Edison National Historic Park is in my town. I started thinking “what are the careers that I know of that girls around me are not aware of?” I knew that there were so many unique careers in the STEM field and that women who are accomplishing amazing things don’t get highlighted in the media. I think many girls don’t know about all the different fields in engineering. I’ve already covered structural and I plan to do the other types as well. I have some cyber security interviews coming up that I’m super excited about because that’s a field that I feel is really opening up for girls. Basically, it’s a combination of who I can find and women that are very open and willing to help me. I have found so many tremendous women in that process.
What advice would you give to girls who feel intimidated by STEM?
I would tell them that you can’t be discouraged and that nothing that is worth it comes easily. I would tell them to persevere because we need you in the STEM field, we need your perspective, and it will be so worth it because it will open up so many doors in life and to new skills. Try something new and don’t care about what other people think or have to say about it. Take advantage of every STEM opportunity that comes your way, keep an open mind and just have fun! It is so interesting, so fascinating, and as a girl, you will feel so empowered to go into STEM and be able to share your experiences with others around you.
Have you thought about what particular field you want to go into?
I know that in college I want to major in computer science. I’ve always thought that there’s not enough representation of girls in STEM on TV, so I would love when I’m older to create some type of cartoon on Nick Jr. or Disney about a girl in STEM. My ultimate goal: I’d love to create a STEM Disney princess. I love inventing things, so I’d also love to go into an invention aspect of games and possibly create a toy line that encourages boys and girls to go into STEM. I’ll hopefully invent something that can change the world in one way or another! I’m also interested in the creation of self-driving cars.
Have any favorite books you want to share?
There is this book, Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, and I read that and it was so eye opening to me. I didn’t know about most of these people and I loved being introduced to 50 role models. I found it so fascinating.
