Females have been historically underrepresented in the STEM industries. Pritika Lally is 16 years old and from Toronto in Ontario, Canada. Pritika founded stemHERd, an organization that has the goal of removing the male-dominated stigma in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and to empower females to explore the different fields. stemHERd provides all types of resources such as conferences and lectures in order to not only encourage females in STEM, but also provide knowledge, confidence, and connections.
Last year, Pritika took a Computer Science course that had 28 boys and only four girls. She also dealt with others doubting her when telling them she took this course. Pritika quickly realized the main problem why females don't involve themselves or explore the STEM fields are because of how male-dominated and stereotypical it is. After working hard, Pritika successfully finished the class with the highest mark in the grade, however, the unfairness left her with an urge to make a change.
"The Robotics club and Computer Science club are only meant for boys." The stereotype that people follow makes Pritika question, "Why is that true? Why do people think boys are more capable than girls?" Therefore, Pritika decided to portray her love for STEM and advocacy into stemHERd. Pritika created stemHERd to encourage other girls and to support them, their knowledge, and their needs regarding the fields in STEM.
Pritika thought of this name after reading an article online about how animals in a herd all have the same goal. Similarly, everyone who joins stemHERd supports their main goal. Also, in the word “herd”, the word “HER” is present. This organization is specifically dedicated to all the females in STEM, so the term stemHERd was perfect for it.
Pritika plans on getting more people involved as well as making a committee. In the future, she hopes to have other passionate females introduce a chapter of stemHERd in their schools to promote their mission. After gaining more members, Pritika also hopes to take action in less fortunate countries such as different parts of Africa and India. In addition to empowering girls worldwide to involve themselves in STEM, stemHERd supports underprivileged young women such as those that are unable to afford an education. stemHERd hopes in the future to support them with resources, material, and fees needed to pursue their dreams in the STEM field.
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