As Good as Gold: Fulton Focuses on Encouraging Young Women

This past summer, Laura Beth Fulton received the Girl Scout Gold Award—known as the “highest and most prestigious” award in Girl Scouting for—a project she called “Science for Success.” Fulton is a 15-year-old high school student living in Bargaintown, New Jersey, and she started the project by interviewing and filming women in the region who have careers in the sciences. In all, she talked with about 20 scientists in various fields, singling engineering out for special attention because she had heard that only 7% of practicing engineers in the United States are female. She asked the women about their careers and interests, what inspired them, and what advice they would give to younger girls pursuing the sciences. Then she used their responses to make a video, which she shared with girls in her community at a public event that also included displays, handouts, and a question-and-answer session with some of the women in the film. More than 50 people showed up. It was a hit.