Expanding Your Horizons at Berkeley

Who Are We

Expanding Your Horizons at Berkeley is a group of graduate students, post-docs and undergraduate womxn* from a broad range of STEM departments (chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, biophysics, etc), experiences and ethnic backgrounds at UC Berkeley. We want to share our passion for STEM subjects with younger womxn and girls, to encourage them to pursue STEM subjects in their future studies and careers. In the United States, cultural gender stereotypes dictate that women are less capable of excelling in STEM fields than men. This stereotype manifests in both an achievement gap for girls at the K-12 level in STEM subjects, as well as in the underrepresentation of women in STEM professions. Research has shown that particularly middle school represents a critical period in which young women first begin to question whether STEM subjects are “for them” and lose interest in STEM fields. EYH at Berkeley aims to encourage middle school girls to explore and participate in STEM activities by giving them access to education and mentorship from womxn in STEM fields, reducing the attrition of young women from science and mathematics fields. Founded in 2012, EYH at Berkeley hosts an annual conference where over 400 middle school girls from the East Bay Area community have the opportunity to visit the UC Berkeley campus and explore STEM subjects through hands-on workshops led by female mentors that are experts in their fields. The EYH conference offers an exciting keynote speaker, a full day of hands-on workshops, and opportunities for the girls to closely interact with undergraduate and graduate student mentors working in STEM related fields. The 2020 conference featured 26 unique and engaging workshops, including:

• Pandemic! Microbes Gone Wild Colds! Coughs! Fevers! Everyone gets sick every once in a while, but why? Learn about why germs make you sick, and how scientists are fighting back! In this workshop, we’ll go over the basics of microbiology (viruses, bacteria, and more) and create our own superbugs in a fun game of Pandemic.

• Playing with Fire Live fire demos! Learn what being a wildland fire scientist is like and get answers to questions like: How do wildfires burn? Are they good or bad? You may be surprised by the things fire can do.

• Robot Hands Have you ever seen a robot before? The answer is probably yes! Robotics combines mechanical, electrical, and biomedical engineering to help humans solve problems—from doing surgery to washing dishes. Come discover the mechanics behind how our joints move—then, build and control your own telerobotic hand!

This year, our conference will move on-line but will maintain all the interactive learning and mentorship experiences that students get in person. 

How Your Support Helps 

Despite the hundreds of volunteers that will donate their time to the EYH conference, it still costs over $25,000 to provide a day of interactive learning for over four hundred girls (this amounts to less than $60 per participant!). We are committed to ensuring the conference remains accessible at all young women and therefore ask for only $15 per student in registration fees. Furthermore, we are committed to honoring every single scholarship request. Your donation to the EYH conference at Berkeley will have a significant impact on our ability to inspire the next generation of female scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. With your support, we hope to be able to offer 400 conference scholarships to young girls across the Bay Area, ensuring that our STEM education program is accessible regardless of socioeconomic status. 

• 2016 – 466 registered

• 2017 – 461 registered

• 2018 – 390 registered

• 2019 – 428 registered

• 2020 – 450 registered

We are seeking $6,000 to sponsor 400 girls to participate in the conference. The cost for each girl to attend the conference is $15 which includes an EYH at Berkeley T-shirt, all the necessary materials sent to them for workshops they are interested in, and mentorship from UC Berkeley graduate students, post-docs, and undergraduates in STEM. Additionally, all parents will have the opportunity to participate in a parents’ workshop to learn how to support and prepare their child for a college education and explore ways to foster their interest in STEM fields. Your support for the EYH conference at Berkeley will have a significant impact on our ability to inspire the next generation of female scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. Please consider donating and sharing our page with your friends and family! Thank you!

Keep in touch with Expanding Your Horizons at Berkeley by following our social media pages below!

• Website: https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~eyh/index.html

• Instagram: @eyhatberkeley https://www.instagram.com/eyhatberkeley/                  

• Facebook: Expanding Your Horizons at Berkeley Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/EYHatBerkeley/

• Twitter: @EYHatBerkeley https://twitter.com/eyhatberkeley?lang=en

Questions? Email us at eyhberkeleyinfo@gmail.com or contact Erin Aisenberg, co-chair of the Finance team, directly at erinaisenberg@berkeley.edu. 

Want to learn more about the network of Expanding Your Horizons conferences powered by Techbridge girls? Visit their website!

* As a community, we understand that there is no single story when it comes to being womxn and we recognize the systemic oppression of marginalized genders. Our use of the “x” in womxn demonstrates our intentional effort to recognize that there are also feminine-identifying, non-binary, and genderqueer people who experience the effects of sexism and genderism. We welcome all young womxn, including those who identify as transgender, non-binary, or genderqueer.