Program supports women enrolled in STEM programs

At Gwinnett Technical College, 80.7 percent of the students enrolled in health science programs are women, but only 20.3 percent of the school's computer science students are female. Women in Technology (WIT) would like to change that.

With a mission to enroll and graduate more women from science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs, the Atlanta-based nonprofit association has launched WIT on Campus at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Gwinnett Tech, Kennesaw State University and Spelman College.

“WIT’s programs have long supported high school students and career women in technology fields. Now it’s filling a gap by supporting women in college,” said Philip Gibson, bioscience program director at Gwinnett Tech.

WIT plans to provide a support system of events, internships, scholarships, and mentoring and networking opportunities for women on the five pilot campuses.

“We were thrilled to be asked, because women in these fields need peer support and mentors,” Gibson said.

Earning a chiropractic degree was challenging for Saeideh Sadri, life science instructor and an advisor for Gwinnett Tech’s WIT on Campus program.

“As a single mother, I battled the same issues of challenging coursework and family responsibilities as many of them do,” Sadri said. “What personally got me through was talking to women who had been there and done that.”

Sadri often gets emails from students who say her story inspired them to keep going. “Encouragement along the way is so important,” she said.

This semester, Sadri will invite female students enrolled in STEM programs at Gwinnett Tech to join WIT on Campus. She’s hoping to establish a cohort of students to attend multicampus WIT events at which they can network and meet women who work in technology.

“It amazes me the number of female executives working in science and technology fields in Atlanta,” said Cedric Stallworth, assistant dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. “They’re not household names, but they’re out there and successful. Having them mentor our students would be meaningful to young women who are trying to figure out how to make career, marriage and family all work. Hearing from a woman who has done it tells them that they can, too.”

Georgia Tech will host the first WIT on Campus event on Sept. 19 at its Academy of Medicine facility.

Among the challenges of attracting and retaining women in scientific fields are cultural stereotypes and gender bias, Stallworth said. Another problem is a lack of knowledge about the fields and the opportunities in them.