Our Story

The Story

I started Career In STEM in May of 2017 out of the frustrations I experienced as a science teacher in Hartford, CT. My students had no idea what they wanted to be. And think about it – how do you know what you want to do until you have DONE it? The truth is, you won’t, and I couldnt find a good way to help my students learn about STEM careers – before they graduated – so I made one!

In just a year and a half the Career In STEM site has grown to over 1,500 visitors daily, 65% of whom come back to continue exploring. As a teacher, naturally first step was to create games, posters, and lessons for other teachers to use in their classrooms. Today our store contains over 100 resources with more than 400 purchases per month. Whats more is all of this has been accomplished working ‘mom’ hours – before my kids wake up in the morning and after they go to bed at night!

The Vision

I feel that Career In STEM is at the right place at the right time. We have built a solid reputation as a the leading provider of STEM career information, helping to boost student engagement and interest as proven by numerous surveys. At the same time, STEM related employers are dealing with a leaky STEM pipeline, struggling to fill more than one million available jobs.

Our next business milestone is to bridge the divide that exists between school and work through the development of an online community to connect students, educators, companies, and providers. Here’s a glimpse of what I have in mind:

You are a teenager who loves engineering. With Career In STEM, you are able to learn what real engineers do using our existing resources, hundreds of which are free. Through our emerging online community, earn points and level up with help and guidance from real engineers along the way. Earn enough points to unlock an engineering apprenticeship, scholarship, interview, and more! Your problem is solved, as you have a job in a career that you love, and the employer’s problem is solved because they have an employee who loves what they do!

This is my dream. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you will join me and the Career In STEM community as we bring this vision to life.

Founder Ashley Pereira leading a workshop for Willimantic Soroptimists at Windham High School (CT).

Ashley Pereira presenting the Career In STEM vision to a group of investors and community members in Hartford, CT.