Abstract 1493 Seeing is Believing: increasing the visibility of womxn in science through outreach

The Student Research Foundation reports that only 28% of high school girls claim to be interested in pursuing STEM careers compared to 65% of boys, despite receiving similar STEM achievement scores. Some of the key factors which discourage young girls from pursuing science include the Confidence Gap (the tendency of women to assume they are less capable than men in the STEM fields), gender stereotypes, and a lack of role models. Research suggests that increasing the visibility of women in STEM may help combat stereotypes and encourage young women to pursue scientific research. In 2019, I founded the organization Graduate Womxn in Biology (gwiBio) to provide professional development and outreach opportunities for woman-identifying individuals in the MIT biology department. Our flagship outreach activity aims to share the extraordinary world of biology with underserved students in the Boston area through a unique science experience hosted by womxn biologists. In the activity, we invite the participants to be scientists themselves and conduct an experiment to answer the question: "which fruit, blueberries or bananas, has more DNA content per gram?" We designed the experiment to make science more approachable, by only using materials that can be found in one's kitchen. Not only do the children enjoy the process of smashing fruit and witnessing stringy DNA appear in rubbing alcohol, but they also get to exercise their scientific curiosity as they wonder why some organisms contain more DNA than others. Throughout the activity, we also highlight women scientists from diverse backgrounds who have contributed to our knowledge of DNA and genetics. We have held this activity at the Cambridge Science Festival and UP Academy STEM Day fairs, which serve predominantly low-income students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in science. These events attract hundreds of attendees, and we hope to continue to expand our outreach activities in the future. The children are incredibly excited and engaged throughout the experience. The most rewarding part for me at the end of the activity is hearing a young girl emphatically answer yes when asked whether she wants to be a scientist when she grows up. I believe that the more we can enhance the visibility of womxn in science for young girls, the more confident they may feel in pursuing STEM fields in their future. I thank the MIT Office of Graduate Education, the MIT School of Science, and the Harvard/MIT Coop for funding support.