As a child, I dreamt about visiting the man on the moon.

As a student, math and science became a jumble of formulas and theorems, shattering that dream.

As a young girl, I was told that "you could be anything that you want to be," but discouraged from having a non-traditional career, lest it interferes with my family commitments.

Today, I consider myself an advocate of women in technology, committed to promoting math and science at every available opportunity.

Why the change?

Because I know that children can have fun with math, science and technology.

Because women with non-traditional careers should be applauded, and more girls encouraged to join the trendsetters.
Because I want to give our daughter the opportunity and freedom to choose her career wisely.

So when we learned about the recent Boston Science Festival at MIT, my 10-year-old daughter, Neha, registered and signed up for the "Material Girl" workshop. "I will get to see what dad does and find out if I want to be a materials scientist when I grow up," said Neha.

A few days later, we were at the Festival, anticipating our meeting with Sally Ride – America’s first woman astronaut in space and physics professor at the University of California.

Personally, I was delighted to see the sea of fifth- through eighth-graders waiting for a glimpse of astronaut Sally. Their enthusiasm made me forget statistics that show "women constitute 45 percent of the workforce in the U.S., but hold just 12 percent of science and engineering jobs in business and industry".

To me, every girl there looked like a budding scientist. Each girl had the support of her parents or grandparents. They all appeared genuinely interested in understanding the mystery of space travel and exploring new opportunities offered through the workshops.

A fifth-grader from East Boston came to the Festival early, hoping to catch Sally before the crowd arrived. Her wish was granted. She got to chat with the astronaut and learned that Sally’s ambition is to go back to space when she is matured like John Glenn.

Fran, a grandmother now, was a teenager when John F. Kennedy outlined his space program. She was excited about the program but was disappointed when no women astronauts were selected for the historical flight to the moon. Nevertheless, "Sally got to live my dream," said an effervescent Fran.

Jen, a fifth-grader from Hopkinton, could barely contain her excitement about meeting the astronaut. Last year she had dressed up as Sally Ride for an event and today she was thrilled to have Sally’s autograph.

Jessica from Acton was patiently waiting in line to meet her "first woman role model. I am attending the ‘Who Are Engineers’ workshop because I am going to be an engineer," said the seventh-grader.

Wait a minute. Did she say role model?

Studies show that lack of interaction with women role models is one of the reasons why fewer girls opt to become scientists and engineers.

Kudos to the parents, grandparents and teaches for accompanying the girls to the event and giving them a chance to see Sally Ride up close and personal.

Later that afternoon, the crowd flowed into the auditorium for Sally’s keynote. We heard about the chemistry set that got her hooked on science, her two space missions and anecdotes about her crewmembers.

Sally showed us detailed satellite pictures of hurricanes and earthquake faults. She told us about taking a toy giraffe to space – a gift from ABC Network’s Lynn Sherr and author of Tall Blonds.

As Sally continued her speech, I looked around and wondered who among these young girls will be the first to land on Mars. How many of these girls would aspire to became future astrophysicists and mathematicians? Would some of them give up on their dreams because of classroom environment and stereotyping?

Despite my personal experience and reports on gender-bias, I felt confident that with a little encouragement and the right opportunities, many of these girls will choose careers in math and science. Several may also play a major role in making space habitable for people and other living beings … even giraffes.

Parna Sarkar, a public relations consultant, specializes in media relations and competitive strategy. A champion of Women in Technology issues, Sarkar works with Westwood Schools to promote math among students, and encourage girls to opt for non-traditional careers.  Sarkar can be reached at parnasarkar17@yahoo.com.