As Women’s History Month comes to a close, I wanted to highlight a program that is breaking down barriers for girls right here in Boston.
MassRobotics is the largest independent robotics hub dedicated to accelerating innovation through robotics. Located in Seaport, MassRobotics hosts 85+ robotics startups, including many founders stemming from Northeastern, MIT, Tufts, WPI and UMass Amherst. I’ve been lucky enough to work here as a co-op on their brand new, first-of-its-kind startup accelerator. It was through this co-op that I learned about an incredible program called Jumpstart.
Jumpstart is a fellowship program funded entirely by grants that was developed in 2021 by MassRobotics to encourage and empower diverse high school-aged girls to pursue careers in STEM fields. Throughout this program, the girls are supported by mentors and industry experts while learning skills such as CAD design, 3D printing, laser cutting, Python, C++ and other STEM skills. This program runs every Saturday from January to May. After the program has ended, each of the girls are offered a summer internship at a local tech company where they are treated as full-time, paid employees.
In addition to the technical side, this program features a lot of critical career, academic and professional skill building. I have sat in on great sessions where the girls practice interviewing mentors, teachers and professionals. They create LinkedIn profiles and learn how to use the platform to connect with mentors and each other, as well as past Jumpstart Fellow alumni. Program participants learn what it means to network and how to handle themselves when meeting important people. These are all such important skills that I did not learn until I was already in college.
Another incredible part of this program is the field trips. During the students’ February break, the Jumpstart students had a packed week of field trips where they were able to see all types of real-world company operations, manufacturing plants and so much more. A couple of the notable trips included visits to New Balance, Ava Robotics, MIT Media Lab, Greensight, MITRE and more.
When I heard about this program, I was in awe. Although my Biology and Chemistry classes are now more female than male, the engineering and robotics departments are still heavily male-dominated. I grew up in a rural area and have always been extremely passionate about the importance of STEM programs just like this one being accessible to students of all backgrounds. STEM education has the power to ignite students’ curiosity through hands-on creation and experimenting. It can change the direction of lives. Most of these girls have likely never seen a woman engineer or coder. People underestimate the power in seeing your dreams as possibilities; by being exposed to these mentors and these technical skills, these girls are rolling up their sleeves and laser cutting the barriers to entry.
Some of the students from past cohorts have commented on the effect it’s already had on their career trajectory. According to the 2023 STEM Impact Report released from MassRobotics, a student from the first cohort stated, “I found my passion in engineering and coding, my future has never felt so much clearer.” A student from the second cohort explained, “Entering the professional world is not easy, but this program has worked with us to make this path a lot easier.” It will be exciting to see how this program plays a role in the girls’ academic and career trajectories.
This program is run by an incredible computer engineer and public school teacher-turned STEM program manager, Kevin Smith. He has been working at MassRobotics for over a year now and works directly with these girls every Saturday in what he consistently calls his “dream job.”
“Personally, I am amazed at the educational environment nurtured at MassRobotics,” said Smith. “Witnessing students examine and overcome challenges, grow their confidence and seeing teachers’ jaws drop tells me that we are doing something special.”
Jumpstart is currently hosting its fourth cohort, and it has recently expanded to serve two locations in Boston and Lowell. Alethea Campbell, the new Lowell Program Manager, is excited about the growth of the program.
“In year four of the program, we are always adding new curriculum to meet the needs and desires of industry,” she said. “We’re currently looking to expand our internship program and welcome enthusiastic companies to join in efforts of providing fellows the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the summer for a two to eight week program.”
As women continue to break into all fields, it is so important for programs like this to stand by their side. As Barbara McClintock, a cytogeneticist and winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize, once said, “If you know you are on the right track, if you have this inner knowledge, then nobody can turn you off … no matter what they say.” This is what the Jumpstart program does for these girls.