In honor of International Women’s Day, HISD’s Career Readiness Department hosted its first Girls in Industry Day on Wednesday, March 8, at the HISD Pavilion to educate students on career opportunities.

“We began to look at statistical data that showed how girls are underrepresented in what we call high-growth and high-demand areas,” said Senior Manager Dana Carmouche. “Our department decided to make sure we provide young girls equitable opportunities and access to these careers.”

Eighth-grade girls from 16 HISD middle schools had the opportunity to engage in hands-on experiential learning activities, career exploration, and knowledge-based games with industry leaders from various career fields including A.I., agriculture, architecture design, cyber security, culinary, emergency services, forensic science, health science, I.T., manufacturing, STEM, and more.

“We learned that the earlier we expose young girls to equitable opportunities and occupations, the more likely they are to be successful in their career paths and post-secondary opportunities,” said Carmouche. “We decided to back up and stop waiting for these young girls to get to high school to expose them to these opportunities.”

In addition to participating in fun games and engaging learning activities, each student received a gift bag from Career Readiness containing snacks, a water bottle, a career pamphlet and more.

“Today was really fun and enlightening,” said Pershing Middle School eighth grader Areesha Memon. “It’s nice to find out stuff about jobs we didn’t know about and learn more about jobs we do know about.”

To learn more about Career Readiness and upcoming events, click here.