GREENSBORO, N.C. — Western Guilford High School junior Bailey Wright has been selected to be one of 15 students in the United States and 126 in the world to participate in TechGirls. 

What You Need To Know

  • Bailey Wright has been selected to attend the TechGirls program this summer

  • Wright is one of 15 students in the U.S. to participate in the program

  • Wright is expected to receive her drone license by the end of April

TechGirls is a summer exchange program that allows participants to see firsthand what it’s like working in STEM fields. For four weeks those selected in the program will travel to different cities and work alongside people already in the field.

"I’m really excited for TechGirls,” Wright said. “A friend told me about the program. When I decided to apply, I actually only had two days until the due date to apply, and I got in.”

Wright realized the opportunities she could achieve within the science, technology, engineering and math world after she took a computer science honors class and learning how to fly a drone. 

After successfully putting the drone together she says her favorite part is the end process. 

“Seeing like all the hard work that you put in, like being able to put it together and then just seeing it fly,” Wright said. “There's just something about it. It's like a feeling of accomplishment.”

In her Drone Technology I class she is one of two female students, and she’s the only Black female in the class. This isn’t uncommon within the STEM field.

According to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in 2019 Black women made up 14% of women in stem career fields compared to about 66% white women. 

Wright, who is trying to earn a drone license, says more diversity in STEM would allow people to do a job that they wouldn’t be boxed into.