In a room full of 100 engineers, only 9 would be women. Men earn three times as many Ph.Ds as women. The media bombards girls with messages - overt and subtle - that science is not the place for them. Here's our response. WQED is proud to present the following video.

Innovate: Fueling Change depicts women and girls as important members of STEM teams. The video is a production of Creative Expansions, Inc. Executive producer: Helene Lerner, www.womenworking.com.

INNOVATE: FUELING CHANGE is a unique ten-minute video intended to introduce students to exciting careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The video follows a group of high school students as they address the need to use existing energy sources efficiently and explore alternative energy resources by converting French-fry grease into bio-fuel. The students also have the opportunity to visit a group of engineers that were members of the 2009 Penn State Solar Decathlon team.

Watch the video

Download the brochure and discussion questions (pdf)

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Key concepts of the video include:

STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers are cool, fun, and offer lots of opportunities in a variety of industries.
People in these careers make the world a better place and improve our quality of life.
All sorts of men and women are involved in these professions, and diversity makes the field better.

Sponsors of the video: Lockheed Martin, The SME Education Foundation,The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Verizon.

For further information about the video contact: Helene Lerner, helene@womenworking.com.

WQED Multimedia is a distributor of the video as part of its iQ: smart media initiative.

Available through April 2011 for educational use.

Additional resources:

Introduce a Girl to Engineering
The Global Marathon
Engineer Your Life
Design Lives Here
Society of Women Engineers
Expanding Your Horizons
Women in Materials Science
Engineers without Borders
SME Educational Foundation
Thinkfinity from the Verizon Foundation