Fall 2018 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine
The future (of engineering) is female
51ĀŅĀ× students studying engineering and technology know to expect rigorous coursework and lots of career options. The fieldās female students also know to expect a huge gender gap.
Cat Hofacker, BSJ ā18 | October 28, 2018
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āItās shocking when you sit in a classroom and realize thereās only eight or something girls in the class,ā says Jelena Mrvos, a senior studying mechanical engineering. āI remember being shell-shocked about that freshman year.ā
Women hold only 24 percent of jobs in STEM fields, according to a 2017 study by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In engineering, that number shrinks to just 14 percent.
Undiscouraged, Mrvos found support in the Russ College of Engineering and Technologyās chapter of the (SWE), a student group that provides professional development opportunities and local outreach programs for women in the field.
āI heard it was a great place to go to meet female peers in my major, and in engineering in general, because we all knew going in that it was going to be male-dominated,ā says Mrvos, who went on to serve as SWEās president last year.
Women helping women
From the chapterās informal mentoring program that pairs younger students with junior and senior members in their major, to regular regional and national conference attendance, SWE builds its membersā skills and professional networks by fostering a supportive community.
āJust by being in SWE, you have upperclassmen to go to about anything you want,ā Mrvos says. āBut through the mentor-mentee program, youāre assigned a specific person you know you can always go to, somebody who will try to give you the best answer they can.ā
At conferences, SWE members can attend information sessions and hear about the experiences of women in the industry. This yearās SWE president, Ashley Weitzel, believes incorporating similar opportunities in local meetings can further benefit members.
Russ College of Engineering and Technology SWE members (L to R) Rachel Zelinsky, Jennah Rawahneh, Jelena Mvros, and Alexis Cunningham attend the 2017 Society of Women Engineers National Conference, held in Austin, Texas, in October of last year. Photo courtesy of SWE
āWe had a former [SWE] president Skype in and tell us about her experience going into the workforce and taking graduate classes online, and some of our members are on that same path,ā says Weitzel, a junior studying chemical engineering. āThat can further our knowledge in moving forward in the workforce.ā
Mrvos says itās those kinds of āhonest conversationsā that will help SWE members as they start their careers.
āThe best way to learn how to deal with those things is by talking and listening to the experiences of women who have gone through that,ā she says. āBeing in an organization where itās about women is the best way to learn how to handle those things in the real world.ā
Speaking up
SWE members donāt waste time applying these lessons. Mrvos says she has already been in several situations where sheās been able speak about gender inequity, including during a summer internship, where she was the only woman in her department.
āI got to have a couple very honest conversations with my boss about it, and he made it very clear that āif you feel uncomfortable or if lines are crossed, let us know,āā she says. āHaving people like that and men like that in the industry ā¦ and having those conversations with people in school will really help turn things around.ā
SWE adviser Carol Hill, a lecturer of engineering and technology fundamentals, says that although more attention is being paid to the lack of women in engineering, the solution isnāt necessarily just increased enrollment. The rigorous coursework combined with the glaring reality of being a āgender minorityā is enough to drive some women away from the field, but Mrvos and Weitzel have held firm. That confidence is key, Hill says.
āIt does take a determination,ā she says. āIt does take a drive. You are always judged on whether you are capable, even though you are. Itās that confidence that has to come along with it and support you.ā
Russ College of Engineering and Technology SWE members Rachel Belinsky (foreground) and Caitlin Finnearty (background) help local Girl Scouts construct their own Rube Goldberg machines at an event at the Market on State, held in April. Photo by Ashley Stottlemyer
A rising tide
The women of SWE are also setting an example of their own for future generations. At annual events for Athensā Girl Scouts, Brownies, and Daisies, girls as young as 6 are asked to complete various challenges using engineering techniques.
āSeeing them communicate with each other and bounce ideas off each other to create a working experiment was very mind-boggling and awesome to see happen,ā Weitzel says.
Mrvos says itās important to introduce students to STEM fields during their formative years. Although the industry might seem male-dominated now, those āelementary school kids building circuit boardsā will grow up some day.
āItās going to take years until those kindergartners who are on their iPads playing engineering games get all the way through college,ā Mrvos says. āItās a slow process and slow change, but I think weāre absolutely headed down the right path."
Feature photo: Chemical engineering senior and Society of Women Engineers President Ashley Weitzel (RIGHT) helps an Athens-area Girl Scout assemble a Rube Goldberg machine at the groupsā āBuildings, Brains, and Boxesā design contest this spring. Photo by Ashley Stottlemyer