Marvel Studios wants to balance the gender inequality in the STEM field, and to do so it assists teenage girls in pursuing their passion of working in scientific fields.
With this in mind, the studio has launched a program in partnership with the National Academy of Sciences, in a Science & Entertainment exchange. The contest requires interested girls aged 15 to 18 to submit a video proposal that reflects the scientific ideas young maidens think will impact the development of society.
Marvel describes the idea behind the program in full on its website.
Coincidentally (or not), the program synchronizes with the launch of Marvel's next installment in the Cinematic Universe, "Captain America: Civil War." If you can handle a number of spoilers, here is an interesting report on which superheroes will appear in "Civil War."
Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Scarlet Witch in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," talks about the scope of the program in an introductory video to the "Captain America: Civil War - Girls Reforming the Future Challenge."
Check it out on Marvel's homepage.
Olsen points out that the project aims to support the efforts of young girls who feel that they are more attracted to STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) than other fields of study.
From the video subscriptions, the jury will choose five finalists. The five young teenage girls will visit Marvel's Los Angeles Studios and get the chance to showcase their ideas to a selected pack of judges.
The winner of this final step gets the chance to intern for Marvel, albeit no official information exists on the department where the internship will take place. The studio did not elaborate on other details either, such as what the internship will entail. We can only assume that words such as "awesome," "epic," "sci-fi" and "superheroes" will be flying around a lot.
Make sure to read the rules (PDF) and, should it tickle your scientific fancy, apply until March 26, at 9 p.m. PT, at the latest.
Some years ago, the STEM field was regarded as a male-exclusive area. However, thanks to emancipation and progressive ways of thinking, the number of feminine presences in STEM is constantly growing.
We are happy to see that Marvel backs young girls in pursuing their dreams in scientific research and we look forward to seeing other big names in the entertainment industry follow its lead.
