Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

JPMC Contributes $15,000 to Support It Girls Program

Thursday, September 5, 2013, By Diane Stirling
Share
CommunitySTEM

itgirlsovernightJP Morgan Chase & Co. has provided a $15,000 sponsorship for this year’s It Girls Overnight Retreat, an event created by the School of Information Studies (iSchool) to engage, inspire and celebrate high school women and their potential in technology.

This fall marks the third annual It Girls Overnight Retreat, which has attracted 150 junior and senior high school girls from 32 high schools and seven states to the iSchool for a two-day event akin to a “slumber party meets hack-a-thon” weekend.

According to Joan McGovern, of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Community Engagement initiative in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the company was motivated to sponsor the It Girls Overnight Retreat because the program aligns with the firm’s community engagement objective to recruit, retain and advance women in the STEM fields. JPMC’s Technology-University Collaborations Community Engagement program was started in 2012 to encourage underrepresented/female students to pursue STEM curriculum, McGovern says.

“After having conversations with the Syracuse University School of Information Studies, with whom JPMC has a collaborative agreement, the It Girls Overnight Retreat was identified as an initiative that would provide deep community impact,” she adds. “The sustainability and growth of the initiative is also an attractive feature, as we consider these students a talent source for our technology positions.”

Julie Walas Hyunh, undergraduate programs manager for the iSchool, and co-creator of the event with Dori Farah, recruiting specialist at the iSchool, says the program was developed to “create an experience that we hope will inspire young women to consider an education and career in technology. Our country is experiencing a deficit of female talent and interest in the STEM disciplines and the It Girls Overnight Retreat is proving to be a positive response to that problem.”

Of the 150 program participants thus far, 114 have graduated high school and have had a chance to apply to college, according to Farah. Of those 114 women, 80 percent chose to apply to Syracuse University, and almost half of that number applied to pursue a degree program in the iSchool. Altogether, the iSchool has welcomed 26 “It Girls” as matriculated students to date, she says.

As an innovative women-in-tech initiative, the It Girls program is in good company. JPMorgan Chase also has sponsored two other Syracuse University programs, “Women Lead” and “Aspirations in Computing,” both designed to attract high school women into tech curriculums, as well as similar events at two other colleges.

  • Author

Diane Stirling

  • Recent
  • Eight New Recruits Begin Campus Peace Officer Academy
    Thursday, May 19, 2022, By Christine Weber
  • Media Tip Sheet: Consequences of China Lockdown
    Thursday, May 19, 2022, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Dean Rajiv ‘Raj’ Dewan to Step Down as Dean of the School of Information Studies
    Thursday, May 19, 2022, By News Staff
  • 2022 Graduates Reflect on Service as Academic Coaches
    Thursday, May 19, 2022, By Ellen de Graffenreid
  • Funding Expands for Newhouse Professors’ Work on Technology to Combat Fake News
    Wednesday, May 18, 2022, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In STEM

Dean Rajiv ‘Raj’ Dewan to Step Down as Dean of the School of Information Studies

Rajiv “Raj” Dewan, dean of the School of Information Studies, has announced he will conclude his deanship on June 30, 2022. Dewan plans to return to full-time faculty duties while continuing his research. David Seaman, dean of Syracuse University Libraries…

Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences Departments Come Together on Diversity and Engagement Initiatives

In 1948, Professor James Hope Birnie became Syracuse University’s first African American faculty member in biology, teaching here until 1951. He was also one of its first biology faculty members to be supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)….

Black Hole Image Shows Einstein Was Right, Once Again

Today a team of astronomers announced they successfully captured the first direct image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Duncan Brown is the Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics at Syracuse University’s College of…

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering Professor’s Research Team Receives Multiple Awards at Society for Biomaterials Conference

Biomedical and chemical engineering Professor Mary Beth Monroe attended the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) 2022 meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, with Ph.D. students Anand Vakil, Henry Beaman, Changling Du and Maryam Ramezani, master’s student Natalie Petryk ’21, G’22 and undergraduate students Caitlyn…

Viewing a Microcosm Through a Physics Lens

“What can physics offer biology?” This was how Alison Patteson, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ physics department and a faculty member in the BioInspired Institute, began the explanation of why her physics lab was studying bacteria. In…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.