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On my last day as Director of the Women in Engineering Program (WEP)…after 20 years in this role and 22 years in the Cockrell School of Engineering, I reflect on one of our most inspirational, impactful, and far-reaching programs started in my first year with WEP. Girl Day turns 21 (legal!) this February, and I could not be more proud of how this program has grown and what it has become. Our WEP full time and student staff have put in so many hours to create an event unlike any other…anywhere!

As DiscoverE kicked off the Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day initiative nationwide as part of Engineers Week 2001, I watched and was intrigued. I was not leading WEP at that time, but was active in outreach and engaging girls (and all kids) in STEM in the community. When I became WEP Director later in 2001, I knew we had to join in and host our own “Girl Day” at UT Austin. Our first Girl Day was hosted on the Thursday of Engineers Week 2002 with 95 middle and high school students.

After a couple years of the event, our good friend Julie from our fabulous, long-time partner Girlstart asked us if we needed to keep it on Thursday (the “official” Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day with Engineers Week nationally) or if we could move it to a Saturday. Saturday is easier for EVERYONE….so we moved it. Participation has skyrocketed upwards ever since! Thanks to a push from Google, we added in the Girl Day STEM Festival and with Halliburton’s long-time annual support and our fabulous Girl Scouts of Central Texas partners, we now have the largest Girl Day in the world!

The event now reaches 6,000-9,000 K-8th grade girls annually (even in virtual world in 2021) with over 150 corporate, community, and campus partners leading hands-on STEM activities, shows, and demonstrations. We have over 1,400 volunteers and STEM role models join in annually to make the day amazing for all our participants.

Over our 20 year Girl Day history, we have engaged ~54,000 girls in STEM hands-on activities with amazing STEM role models!

Girl Day at UT Austin including Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day and the Girl Day STEM Festival (affectionately called Girl Day for short), is moving with us to Women in STEM (WiSTEM) within the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) at UT Austin. We’re excited to continue the legacy of this amazing program that engages research groups, student organizations, students, staff, and faculty from all parts of campus along with our corporate and community partners.

Join us on February 19, 2022 as Girl Day turns 21 (no drinking on campus!) and we return to an in-person event! Community and corporate partnership registrations are open now and K-8th grade participant registration will open in December.

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Want to hear about the impact of Girl Day, meet one of our amazing engineering alums (student at the time of the video) who participated in Girl Day and was inspired to become an engineer: