'Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day' hosted by XTO at Carlsbad schools

Carlsbad's sixth grade girls from P.R. Leyva and Alta Vista middle schools got some insight into what a career in engineering might look like thanks to the annual "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" hosted May 10.

XTO Energy, the sponsor of the event, had employee volunteers available to conduct hands-on experiments with the girls as part of the event.

"Carlsbad is pleased to partner again with XTO for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. This event is an opportunity for Carlsbad Junior High students to learn engineering concepts and to meet female leaders in the engineering field,” said Lavern Shan, deputy superintendent for Carlsbad Municipal Schools.

Shan said the impact of events like this make themselves known as students move to high school and begin to make career decisions.

According to a news release from XTO, women make up just 13% of practicing engineers, a figure that it hoped would begin to trend upward as a result of its efforts, benefiting the company that employs "almost 24,000 scientists and engineers around the world …"

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: 'Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day' hosted by XTO at Carlsbad schools