Courtesy photo Twenty-four local high school girls were celebrated at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua last week after graduating from BAE Systems’ Women in Technology Program.

NASHUA – The BAE Systems Women in Technology Program celebrated the graduation of 24 high school girls at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua.

This 16-week program, which is organized by BAE Systems engineers, gives young women a chance to explore careers in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Stephanie Livsey, Women in Technology program leader, said organizers try to fit in as much as they can during the span of 16 weeks.

The program runs from October to February. Classes take place on Tuesday afternoons for two hours.

“We do different things every week,” Livsey said. “The girls learn about different types of engineering. One week, they may do electrical engineering and recreate a circuit, and another week they may be getting to use an infrared camera and learn about thermal imagery.”

In addition to this, they host a roundtable event with the girls and women who are currently working in STEM jobs. Livsey said during this, the woman chat with the girls about their career goals, why they are interested in STEM, some of their experiences from the field, and other topics. They also work with the girls to help them practice presenting, through a skills training class. The girls give presentations during their graduation ceremony.

Livsey said the program receives anywhere from 30-50 applications a year, while they pick 24 girls to participate. This year was the 24th for the program. This program is not just selective to southern New Hampshire. Livsey said there are Women in Technology Programs in New York and Virginia as well.

Livsey said anyone is welcome to apply, so long as they can get to the session. “We don’t limit to local schools, though most come from Nashua,” Livsey said. Students can come from a reasonable distance. Livsey said students have traveled from Merrimack, Tyngsborough, Windham, Westford, Manchester and other areas.

On BAE’s website, the listed requirements include: High school female junior or senior, interest in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, demonstrated teamwork abilities and motivated to learn new things.

BAE also notes on its website that since 1995, 650 students have graduated from the WiT program.

This endeavor allows young women to walk away with a handy set of skills they will be able to use as they move to post-secondary education. And on top of this, Livsey said it is a great opportunity for the girls to recognize that while there are fewer women in the STEM career paths, they are not alone.

On a personal level, Livsey said when she was younger, she didn’t have an opportunity such as this to meet women engineers. “Looking back, it would have been great to have an opportunity like this,” Livsey said.

She added, “I think it can be scary. You might be one of the only females you know doing this. It gives them peace of mind knowing that they can do it, people have done it before them, it’s achievable. There’s a lot of opportunity.”

Livsey said the program goes a long way. “I think having an opportunity to meet people who are like-minded gives the students a lot of confidence to pursue (STEM) as a career.”