On March 20, young women and girls flocked to MTSU to showcase their creativity and intellect in the Student Union Ballroom during the Rutherford County Schools’ STEM Expo.
MTSU co-sponsored the three-hour event with 150 volunteers, 800 attendees and hundreds of fifth through 12th-grade presenters from schools around Rutherford County.
There is a long-standing history of sexism in the science, technology, engineering and math fields, according to an MIT study. This gender gap can be attributed to a lack of representation, unconscious bias and work-life imbalance that is specifically related to societal expectations of women.
Selina Walker, a Rutherford County teacher, has been working the STEM expo since it started in 2016, and she helps with the data that comes in as judging begins.
Walker believes the expo is highly important as it holds equal space for women to present their work and represent women’s contributions to the STEM field from a young age.
“I think that it’s a wonderful avenue for young ladies to have a place where they can also present and have a voice in their exploration,” Walker said. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for all these young, academic students. But especially for the girls to know there’s a place for them as well.”
The expo also educated people about female-centered concerns in professional settings, such as reproductive health or safety, which were historically overlooked in science and technology.
One competitor, high school senior Jayna Parks, used the event to spread awareness about women’s maternal health by displaying her senior thesis. The project examined the correlation between the maternal pregnancy experience and the corresponding offspring’s cognitive development and well-being.
“We don’t understand women’s health issues that well,” Parks said. “It was only in the ’70s when we started understanding fetal alcohol syndrome … then in the ’90s, with tobacco influences on fetuses. Even now, in the 21st century, we’re finally seeing the effects of caffeine. So, I think something like this could teach us what a woman goes through.”
Local students Anaija Rawls, Nicole Kaizer and Elshaday Adane presented an invention aimed to help individuals, particularly women, feel less vulnerable in public — a ring that housed a button to contact emergency officials in the consumer’s time of need.
The trio said a lack of safety is a problem they experience on a day-to-day basis.
“More than 450,000 women are assaulted each year, and a lot of these cases are being ignored,” Kaizer said.
The group said that, on a grander scale, they believe their product could introduce a safer era for women. On top of that, being able to showcase their concern at the expo has helped spread awareness, they said.
The event provided an opportunity to show that the College of Basic and Applied Sciences can be a medium for pursuing a career in STEM, Jenifer Danylo, an advising director for the MTSU College of Basic and Applied Sciences, said.
Events like the Expo are vital in increasing female participation in STEM, Danylo said.
The annual RCS STEM Expo plans to return in March 2026.
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