When 650 sixth- to ninth-grade girls streamed through the Memorial Union Thursday, the Program for Women in Science and Engineering [PWSE] was ready for them.

For the 12th year, PWSE held a conference for middle-school girls, their parents and teachers. “They’re exploring non-traditional careers [for women],” said Linda Dutton, coordinator for PWSE.

Dutton said female students from all over Iowa attended to learn about science and engineering fields.

“Some of them have no female role models in these careers in their towns,” she said.

Four of these conferences are held at Iowa State every year for sixth- through ninth-grade girls from across Iowa, Dutton said.

Two more conferences for high school girls also are held by the PWSE.

Dutton said they try to reach students before high school so they can plan their high school schedules accordingly.

PWSE started with a conference in 1987 with 400 girls attending, a number four times larger than they expected, Dutton said. Since that first conference, the number of women who study fields in science and technology has increased 67 percent, she said.

Mary Ann Evans, director of PWSE, said adult influences are important to the choices youth make about future careers.

“It means that parents and teachers are encouraging girls to think more broadly about careers,” Evans said.

She said girls need to look past traditional jobs when thinking about their futures.

“The traditional jobs women often choose are low-paying jobs, and they put women at a disadvantage for all of their lives,” Evans said.

Alyssa Armbrecht, junior in chemical engineering and food science, said she attended one of the conferences when she was in eighth grade.

“This is where I decided I wanted to be an engineer,” she said. Before coming to the PWSE conference, Armbrecht said she had not been exposed to science and engineering because she went to a small school.

Michelle Williams, ISU graduate and teacher at Davis County School, said her students need exposure to professional women in non-traditional careers.

“Being we live where we do, there’s not a lot of opportunity for this kind of stuff,” she said.

Mary Jo Schmerr, research chemist for the National Animal Disease Center, said she presented at the conference because she likes young people and thinks they need to be educated about science.

“I think a lot of people at this age have no idea what scientists do,” she said.

The girls also learned about computers in another session, said Kristi Lawson, also a Davis County eighth-grader.

“She was saying all this stuff about how advanced computers will be in five years,” Lawson said, explaining how computers will be able to do even temperature control for the user.

Becky Gladson, a Davis County mother, said she was along as a chaperone. She attended a session on technology.

“It just makes me want to go back to school,” she said.