WPI Summer Camp Encourages Girls to Think Big About Math

“It’s for students who are maybe curious about STEM,” Bernardi said. “Or interested more broadly in STEM careers. It all requires math, and we try to demystify it for them so they don’t see it as an obstacle.” 

For high schoolers Leah of Worcester and Emma of Littleton, Girls Talk Math is a chance to be challenged and to explore the possibilities of STEM outside of their school classrooms, where they often find there are few other girls taking higher-level math courses. 

Cruz, who is attending for the second straight year, is interested in studying mechanical engineering. She says there’s a real sense of collaboration that emerges over the two-week camp.  

“I don’t feel like I have to one-up somebody,” Leah said. “We’re all on the same level.”

Emma has attended all three Girls Talk Math camps at WPI; she said she enjoys the problem sets, which have students working on everything from elliptic curve cryptography to mathematical epidemiology in an environment where they aren’t being singled out or judged. 

“It’s the freedom to delve deep into what interests you,” Emma said. 

The camp is broken down into eight teams overseen by assistant directors and team leaders, all of whom are WPI undergraduates. Each team works on a different problem set over the course of the camp; attendees give presentations on the topic they learned to the entire camp cohort, and record podcasts about prominent mathematicians and scientists from underrepresented groups. On a recent afternoon, the group left its home base at Unity Hall for a quantum mechanics lab demonstration at Olin Hall.

The program is funded with a grant from the Women’s Impact Network, which supports education, leadership, and philanthropy at WPI, along with additional funding from the Mathematical Association of America Tensor Women & Mathematics Grant. The funding covers supplies, wages for the undergraduate team leaders and assistant directors, meals, transportation, and a $250 stipend for each camper.