What does a degree in Parks and Rec have to do with Girls into Tech?
What does a degree in Parks and Rec have to do with Girls into Tech? For Dr. Shelly Gruenig, its part of the “secret sauce” that will meet the needs of future women in technology. As a girl in a small rural town of 500 in Illinois, Shelly loved to spend time in the garage with her dad, working with tools, creating, innovating. As a child, she loved all things science and technology. Her parents, who worked for John Deere, were incredibly supportive. With that support she won the 6th grade science fair. Inspired by that win, when desktop computers became available, she saved up her paper route money to buy one. Triumphantly she brought it home, plugged it in…and could do no more. Her parents were incredibly supportive of her love of math and technology but had no idea how to help her with her computer. In fact, no one in her small town could help much and her dreams began to die. “I didn’t see mentors like myself and so I believed that I couldn’t do it.”
“Times were different, and I didn’t feel like it was an option for me to pursue STEM as a career.” So, she pivoted and graduated from Western Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation and Park Administration, followed by a Master of Education in College Student Personnel from Loyola University Chicago. In 2008, she completed her Ph.D. in Workforce Education at Southern Illinois University.
While at Loyola she worked with the student leadership programs and was honored to create the first Sister Ann Ida Gannon program for young women, a program that still continues to serve young women at Loyola today. From there she got her PhD in workforce education and spent years as a career advisor helping kids and adults make decisions about their future. She discovered she was especially passionate about getting more girls in STEM careers, as well as creating a stronger pathway for kids and businesses to work together.
Dr. Gruenig didn’t go back into STEM until she was homeschooling her kids. After a while she realized her group of homeschooling friends were all nerds at heart. They all had degrees in engineering, math, computer science together. With that expertise and love of STEM, they created entertaining “experiments” for their kids around the kitchen table. While inspiring her children, those experiments reignited Dr. Gruenig’s love of all things science and technology and she challenged herself to get back into STEM. With her friends, she went to a familiar place, her garage, opening it up for a small group of students to innovate and create. This small group of students began to work alongside a group of moms who mentored them, building robots and competing nationwide.
That small group became R4 Robotics, which launched in 2005, followed by Be Greater Than Average. To date, more than 2000 students have experienced mentorship and guidance from Dr. Gruenig and her team.
Their goal was for their kids to be greater than average by becoming a better version of themselves every day, striving to be more, serve more and learn more. Recently, Dr. Gruenig realized that her dream to follow STEM as a young girl was put on hold because of a lack of mentorship. She realized that Be Greater has been mentoring girls and getting girls into tech for many years, but more still needs to be done.
With Girls into Tech, Dr. Gruenig is going one step further, with intentional mentorship and programs designed to inspire girls and ignite a love of all things STEM. “We believe we have the secret sauce to meet the needs of future women in technology. With a nation facing a stem workforce crisis, we feel compelled to help girls see that they have a place at the table.”
Girls into Tech launches April 30. Dr. Gruenig and her team hope you will invite all the girls you know and help them find their place at the STEM table.
The team is also looking for other partners that are interested in supporting Girls Into Tech to join with them. Reach out to learn more about being a sponsor of the program here.
