WAKE COUNTY, N.C. — Wake Technical Community College is working to close the wage and gender gap in the STEM field.

The Wake Invests In Women initiative has been around since 2018. But this is the first semester of the Career Guides Program, which matches students with mentors.

Sophomore Kennedi Williams is in the program. She is studying mechanical engineering and hopes to work in robotics. Her knack for tinkering goes back to her childhood.

"I just always loved finding random toys I stopped using around the house to create different contraptions," Williams said.​

Williams is also part of the START program, which stands for Stem Academic Research and Training. It lets students participate in faculty-mentored research.

"It helped out a lot because then I could actually see myself in a space as a woman in STEM," Williams said.

It's important because while women are nearly half of the workforce in the U.S., they only make up 27% of STEM workers, according to the 2019 census. 

It's that statistic that Wake Tech is trying to change with the Wake Invests In Women program. The workforce initiative is aimed at closing the gender, wage and representation gaps in STEM for students like Williams.

"I think that as I am coming to terms with the challenges that come with going into a mostly male-dominated program, I am building confidence in myself. But also for those… other younger women who also want to be in this field," Williams said.

The collaboration hopes to attract more women to high-demand, high-paying jobs, with the ultimate goal of achieving pay equity. The Wake Invests In Women program’s first priority are Black and Latina women in STEM occupations who experience the largest wage and representation gaps.

There are 48 students involved this semester.