Do you work in the cafeteria? No, I am an engineer. *ROLE MODELS NEEDED!
“Excuse me, ma’am, do you work in the cafeteria?” inquired a curious pre-teen female of me after watching an interactive skit during Take Your Kids to Work Day at Texas Instruments in 2008. I had one of the lead roles in a skit demonstrating how the technology of the digital micromirror device works while I […]
“She must have slept her way to the top”
A personal story of motivation: Do I believe that woman have to sleep their way to the top of an engineering company? Absolutely not. However, the underlying bias nestled in that statement do exist more often than we choose to recognize. Read more for three tips for women in technology.
You can Change the World & Like the Technical Challenge, Too
How has the CTC platform promoted women as social beings rather than technical beings? Am I perpetuating a stereotype in my singular effort to deny another? It is not an either/or!
Engineering: Must women “be” men?
What does it take for women to succeed in engineering? Must women “be men” to survive in these industries? Read more…
Skipping the Holidays: A Social Experiment
What would happen if you skipped every “American” holiday from Halloween to Easter? I am not certain, but I realize I have ventured into what I am calling a social experiment. I am living in a rural coastal village in the southeast of Puerto Rico. My home for the last month and coming six months, […]
Influence of Social Capital on the STEM Pipeline
The STEM pipeline is a national imperative, and this essay examines the theory of social capital, as described in Nan Lin’s book, Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action, and aims to provide a new perspective by extrapolating the potential influence social capital has on the STEM pipeline, specifically women and engineering, from K-12, to university, and into industry.
That’s a Horse of a Different Color! Race, ethnicity, nationality, & culture
Click your heels, and repeat, “There’s no place like home!” That’s what it may take to fully understand your race and ethnicity. Read more…
10 Reasons Women (may) Struggle in STEM
TeachingDegree.org has compiled a list of the top 10 reasons why they think women struggle in STEM. Check out their blog post here. Make sure to click on the headings for each reason for a link to an online supporting article on that blog post. Here is their list: Men are favored over women in […]
“I made it in engineering without help. They will too.” There is a problem, and They do need help!
“I made it in engineering without help. If these young women are meant to be engineers, they will too,” explained a female High School Engineering teacher. I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard this woman utter these words after I asked how she recruited and retained young women into her classes. Assuming […]
A White Researcher Thinks About Race
Have you ever been the “only one?” The only female, the only African American, the only extrovert, the only one overweight, the only redhead? What does it feel like to be “only one?” What did it feel like as an adolescent to be the “only one?” [pp 3, 91] Any different than as an adult? According […]