Fifteen Years of Excellence

ACES (Access to CarEers in the Sciences) Camps have been serving junior high and high school girls for 17 years as of Summer 2004, and continue strong into 2005. These camps have a very high rate of success in leading young ladies into a career in mathematics or the sciences, with 99% of the high school graduates pursuing a college degree and 46% of those pursuing a degree in a math- or science-related field.

General Information

The Access to Careers in the Sciences Camps (ACES) was launched in 1988 by the Science and Mathematics Center for Women at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas.  ACES continues to focus on opportunities for women in the mathematics and science fields while providing the information and the "hands- on" experiences needed to make realistic career choices.  The residential camps introduce girls to women who are established themselves in such professions.  These women will be able to give the campers an accurate picture of what each job entails and how one would prepare for the job in terms of education and experience. The camps enable young women to see, hear, and feel what a career in a mathematics or science field might be like while they can still choose the correct path to lead them to one of these professions.

This year girls in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades will have the opportunity to experience collegiate life while gaining three hours of college credit in an expanded ACES Camp.  Students will take Elementary Statistics from June 14 - July 1.  The second camp will be June 19 - July 1 and will be for 40 girls currently in grades 8-9. The third camp will be July 17-29 for 40 girls currently in grades 6-7. Camp I will begin on a Tuesday and Camps II and III will begin on a Sunday.  All camps will conclude with an awards presentation on the last Friday, which families are encouraged to attend.

Highlights

The camps will emphasize "hands-on" experiments with approximately half of the class time spent in a laboratory. There will be a maximum of 20 students in each classroom. Each camp will have a guest speaker daily. The speakers, women whose careers relate directly to mathematics or science,  will address the issues of the education necessary to pursue the career,  the experiences leading to the job she holds, the rewards and "costs" of having this career and the future of the field. The students will have an opportunity to ask questions and to examine this career through the eyes of a professional. Each camp will also have field trips which will highlight people using mathematics and science in the job setting. Again, the participants will have the opportunity to question and interact with these career representatives.

Statistics

• 1,332 campers since 1988
• 19% have come back for at least a second year
• 34% are from underrepresented ethnic groups
• 100%* are high school graduates
  • 38% are attending college (undergraduate studies)
  • 37% are college graduates of undergraduate studies
  • 12% are attending graduate school
  • 13% have graduated graduate school

  Of those 205 who have graduated from college (undergraduate and graduate studies)54% received degrees in math, science and technology related fields.

  Of those 210 who are attending college (undergraduate and graduate studies) 50% are majoring in a math, science and technology related fields.

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