STEM Careers

College Well Planned has a special interest in working with young women considering STEM majors (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Women have long been underrepresented in many of these fields – particularly computer science and engineering. We can debate the reasons (and will in Diane’s Cup o’ College blog), but the results can’t be denied. Step into almost any Silicon Valley start-up and you’ll see lots of male faces – and very few females.

But times they are a-changin’. And there’s never been a better time for young women to not just test the waters but dive on in. Salaries are stellar. Scholarships abound. Internships are theirs for the taking. Recruiters are falling all over themselves to attract new college grads – female – to their firms. Even the President of the United States issued a directive aimed at increasing the number of STEMinists.

College Well Planned founder Diane Connolly first became interested in STEM fields as a college undergrad herself (starting as a chemistry major back in the post-Madame Curie dark ages). Though she didn’t see it through – and switched to journalism – she never forgot her original interest … or her best friend, Carrie, who went on to major in biochemistry and work at Stanford University. Later Diane became the first computer columnist at The Tennessean newspaper, reviewing software programs and making sense of computers for the layperson, male and female alike.

Life has a funny way of connecting loose ends. After seven years as the college counselor at St. Cecilia Academy, an all-girls, college-prep high school in Nashville, Tennessee, Diane now finds herself especially committed to helping young women pursue their own STEM goals.

Interested in a special summer research opportunity? All-female engineering dorms? Intriguing double majors, like technical theater and computer science? Excellent pre-med advisory programs? Contact Diane to learn more about her Comprehensive and targeted Mini Packages that can help put your daughter on the right track to a rewarding STEM career.