Since 1995, March has been home to Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the work and contributions of the women throughout our nation, honor their sacrifices, and continue to advocate for the equality of women of all ages and origins.

In order to commemorate Women’s History Month, Better Manchester Magazine has compiled a variety of digital resources and guides pertaining to scholarships, organizations, and programs for women and girls.

This guide was compiled with the assistance of Neighborhoods & Families Recreation Leader Garrett Shaikh.

Women’s History Month Resources
By The Anti-Defamation League

“Women’s History Month is a time to honor ordinary and extraordinary women, explore women’s achievements and struggles throughout history, and acknowledge women’s contributions to our society. The 2022 theme for Women’s History Month is ‘Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.’”

“Women’s History Month is an excellent time to talk with students about gender stereotypes and bias, hail important women in history, discover more about women’s issues and their fight for equity, read literature that celebrates women and girls, analyze sexism and explore its causes and solutions. As with other similarly themed months, it is important not to isolate exploration of women’s history and culture into one month during the year. Women’s history is U.S. history and should be integrated into the curriculum throughout the school year.”

College Scholarship Programs for Women
By Scholarships For Women

“The economy gets tough on occasion. When it does, many adults choose to return to school alongside graduating high school seniors. Both types of students enter higher education for one purpose: to better their chances of getting a job that will help them through the hard times, or to get their dream job they have wanted to do for most of their lives.”

“A major part of those students are female. Women represent over half the undergraduate class for Caucasians, and 62 percent of African American undergrads, but any ethnicity has the same slant between women and men. Some of these young ladies are fresh-faced eighteen-year-olds straight from high school with the ambition to change the world, but others may have had to put their lives on hold in order to raise a child. Some women may be furthering their education at the graduate level too…Because women are coming to college in such great numbers, the need to pay for that education becomes a requirement that can make or break the decision to stay.”

National Women’s History Museum
By the NWHM

“For the last twenty years, the National Women’s History Museum has served as the largest online cultural institution dedicated to US women’s history…As an institution, it has galvanized support for preserving, illuminating, and sharing the powerful history of women in America”

“The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote. Progress has been made, but there’s still so much more to do…Now is the moment to help the Museum fully realize its mission—and become the first museum in any nation’s capital to show the full scope of the history of its women.”

Scholarships for Women
By Scholarships.com

“It wasn’t always easy to find scholarships for women, but today there are many sources for free financial aid for women who want to pursue higher education. In fact, currently, there are more women than men attending college and opportunities abound for women across many schools and majors. Most notably, there are some fields where women are considered to be underrepresented – such as in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields. If you happen to be a woman who excels at and is interested in a scientific major or concentration, this could be a great opportunity for you as technical schools work to get more female students on campus and in their labs. Additionally, there are many philanthropic organizations who are specifically targeting this demographic and offer scholarships for women aspiring to careers in engineering, computer science, and many other similar fields.”

“Many scholarships are created with a specific purpose – whether it is placing females in science programs, leadership positions, or advanced degree programs. Many scholarships are intended to encourage female students to not only attend college but to succeed thereafter. A number of them award students who demonstrate leadership abilities or entrepreneurial spirit prior to attending college. Others reward women who have been out of school and are now planning to return. Similarly, scholarship opportunities encourage women excelling as undergraduate students to consider graduate work, professorships, and other highly-skilled positions. Many scholarships encourage women to try their hand at what might be considered “counter-culture” 50 or 60 years ago when many women didn’t even pursue higher education, much less become doctors and engineers.”

Smithsonian Science Education Center: Girls and Women in STEM
By The Smithsonian

“Women have influenced eras and changed nations. Throughout history, women have made extensive contributions in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Whether it is Sally Ride, who transformed history by being the first American woman to fly into space, or Katherine Johnson, whose historical contributions to STEM were captured in “Hidden Figures.” The STEM fields should be open to all. Yet, across the US there is a lack of gender diversity in STEM fields. Although women made up 57.2 percent of all professional workers in 2015, they comprised only 46.6 percent of science professionals, 24.7 percent of computer and math professionals, and 15.1 percent of engineering and architecture professionals. The scarcity of women in STEM fields is a long-standing and persistent problem.”

“This web page is designed to provide STEM resources for all students–girls and boys. It is our belief that firsthand experiences in STEM will serve girls and young women well–so that the young girls of today will be the history-makers of tomorrow.” 

STEM Resources for Women and Girls
By WeTech

This page contains a variety of resources for women & younger girls, including organizations such as the African Centre for Women, Information and Communications Technology, conferences, and scholarships.

Women in STEM Resource
By Sarah Rugheimer

“I once thought that due to the efforts of the past generation of women, the battle for equality was over. One day, sitting as a senior in Prof Jay Gamble’s class at the University of Calgary, I said as much when he was giving his arguments as to why feminism is important today and benefits men as well as women. I said, “At least women are paid the same today.” I’ll never forget when he looked at me and said, “Oh, you think you’ll get paid the same as a future physics professor? Check out the latest report on the earnings of female and male professors across the universities in Canada.” This sentence changed my life and I started to check out the continuing bias facing women in science and in the workforce in general.”

“This webpage is dedicated to being a repository of information for research articles, blogs, and useful references for those interested in learning about the challenges facing women and minorities in science.”