AAUW Tech Trek at Stockton University

This one-week, residential, hands-on STEM camp for rising eighth-grade girls got its start more than 20 years ago, when AAUW of California member Marie Wolbach applied for an AAUW Community Action Grant to open a science camp for girls on the Stanford University campus. Wolbach and AAUW of California have since expanded the program to 10 camps in California alone.

In 2015, New Jersey joined the expansion at Stockton University and expanded to host 60 girls from 2016-2019!  Watch the 2015 Stockton Tech Trek Camp video and click the Photos link above to see archives from our 2016-2019 camps. To reduce the spread of COVID-19, the 2020 camp was offered online in 2021, we held abbreviated alumni STEMinist Camps in 2022, and returned with new cohorts of campers in 2023 and 2024.

Campers take part in activities like programming robots, extracting their own DNA, formulating lip gloss in a chemistry lab, visiting the FAA Technical Center or e-Sports Lab or coastal waters or Pinelands Preserve, and much more! Tech Trek has been shown to significantly increase girls’ self-confidence and their interest in and excitement about the STEM fields, which is why AAUW New Jersey continues to host Tech Trek at Stockton University each year.

The program puts AAUW’s groundbreaking Why So Few? and Solving the Equation research reports into action in a female-led, inclusive, residential university setting. Tech Trek’s formula follows the reports’ recommendations, introducing girls to role models and career choices and giving campers the opportunity to reside on a college campus. 

Read more at https://techtrek-nj.aauw.net/