By Jennifer Stancil

When I first fell in love with science, I was told—sometimes gently, sometimes not—that I was “different”, part of the margins, outside the “circle”.

Different because I preferred lab goggles AND lip gloss. Marginalized because I asked too many questions. An outsider because I didn’t seem to understand that certain spaces weren’t designed with me in mind.

I remember computer labs filled almost entirely with boys. I remember engineering lecture halls where I scanned the room and counted the number of women—often on one hand. I remember what it felt like to be underestimated before I even spoke.

Access to STEM wasn’t always denied outright. Sometimes it was simply discouraged. Quietly. Subtly. Repeatedly.

That was then.

Today, I see more girls enrolling in advanced math and science courses than ever before. I see women leading research labs, launching tech startups, and driving breakthroughs in medicine, climate science, artificial intelligence, and engineering. I see STEM summer camps filled with girls building robots, designing apps, and tackling real-world challenges with boldness I wish I’d felt at their age.

Representation has grown. Doors have opened.

And yet.

I still see confidence gaps. I still see algorithms built without equity in mind. I still see leadership in tech and engineering that skews heavily male. And I know—because I’ve lived it—that many girls, especially girls of color, continue to question whether they belong in rooms where they rarely see themselves reflected.

Progress has happened. Equity has not.

That is why organizations like Techbridge Girls matter so deeply to me.

For 25 years, Techbridge Girls has worked to re-engineer access to STEM so girls don’t just enter the field—they persist in it. As a scientist who has navigated these spaces for decades, I can tell you: entry is only the beginning. Staying is the real work.

The middle school years are where so much quietly crystallizes. Identity. Confidence. Academic pathways. I have mentored enough young women to know that what happens during those years can determine whether a girl sees herself as “good at math” or slowly opts out of the conversation altogether.

What excites me about girls today is that they are not just learning to code. They are interrogating how technology works. They are asking ethical questions about artificial intelligence. They are designing solutions to environmental challenges in their own neighborhoods. They are seeing STEM not as a collection of subjects, but as a vehicle for leadership and change.

They are brilliant. But they cannot do it alone.

If you are a woman who has built a career in science, engineering, healthcare, technology, research, or academia, you know what it took. You’ve been the only woman in the room. You’ve had your ideas interrupted or credited to someone else. You’ve advocated for your work and your worth. You’ve persisted through doubt—both your own and other people’s.

Textbooks don’t teach that kind of resilience. Experience does.

This Women’s History Month, I am thinking not only about the pioneers who cleared the path for me, but about the responsibility I carry to make that path smoother for those coming behind us, particularly girls of color.

Becoming a monthly Sustainer of Techbridge Girls is one way to transform our hard-earned experience into real opportunity for a girl just beginning her journey. Sustained support fuels year-round programming, educator training, and curriculum that centers belonging, confidence, and real-world problem solving.

And now? If STEM has given you a career, a livelihood, a sense of purpose—this is a moment to give forward.

Let’s close the confidence gap.
Let’s widen the pathway.
Let’s ensure that when girls look ahead, they see not just possibility—but proof.

The future of science, technology, engineering, and math is still being written.

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