ASU NewSpace Expo

Good morning everyone! Welcome back to my blog!

This past week was a bit hectic but that only means my senior project research is in full gear. Last Thursday I attended Arizona State Universities NewSpace Expo. It was a networking breakfast followed by a quick update on a few of the things that this program is currently working on. The mission of this program is "the integration of academics and commercial space enterprises using the resources ASU has to offer."

Tes Calvert was one of the people who gave a brief presentation. As a major contributor to the program, she wanted to talk about a new and upcoming part of the NewSpace program, The Interplanetary Initiative. She said that "humankind is compelled to explore space, and will have a space future" arguing that there needs to be a link between humankind and all future space discovery. This makes a lot of sense. If something is inevitably going to occur then, of course, you want to be on the leading edge of progression. In my mind, this meant feeding a lot of money into the STEM programs that would help further space research. However, as if she read my mind, she was quick to caution that this initiative was NOT just for the STEM fields but for all fields. The "Interplanetary Initiative" is designed to pair discovery with education. I believe that this applies to my entire research project because it shows that while it might take a very specific person to love math the way engineers do, everyone can think creatively and everyone can make significant contributions to a group effort. No matter gender, ethnicity, or financial background all people think individually. The only way that progression is going to continue is if these diverse thoughts join together while working on various projects, such as those for the NewSpace Expo.

After a few more professors and staff gave presentations, Kaylee, a current ASU senior majoring in astrophysics, gave us a tour of the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology building. While on the tour we got to peek into the lab rooms through the windows. In many of the windows was the sign pictured below. After all of the research I have been conducting, this sign made me smile because it shows that no matter how many people still reject the idea of females in the engineering field, there are people, programs, and even schools as a whole supporting our goals. The sign reads "This space RESPECTS all aspects of people, including race, ethnicity, gender expression, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, age, religion, and ability."



For more information on the NewSpace program, visit their website here.

Thank you! Stay tuned for more!

ASU's "Women in Engineering" Dinner

Hi again :)

This past Tuesday I had the honor of attending ASU's "Women in Engineering" Dinner. While the main goal of the dinner was to get the females in the room to attend ASU, the message ran far deeper. After dinner was served, two females took the stage to share their story.

The first was a female professor at ASU who focuses on recruitment in addition to her regular classess. She told us about the work that she does at ASU and the ways in which the school is willing to help reach out to the females, like those who were sitting in the room, so that they might not only attend ASU but also be bold enough to finish the courses. She prided ASU on having 21% female in the Ira. A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The national average is just shy of 20%.  She contributed this lead to the welcoming faculity and staff because they created a firm support system.

The second person to speak was an alumna who went on to not only successfully pursue a degree in engineering but who also realized what it meant to be a female in the field. As an incoming student she feared the unknown. However, she went on to tell all the future sun-devils in the room that not only are they in good hands at the university but that she gained confidence within the STEM field because of the mentoring and tutoring opportunities that ASU offers females in the field. Above all she went on to say that ASU gave her "the confidence" to do things she "never thought possible."

At ASU specifically, they have a variety of programs, clubs, and organizations geared towards women. This week I plan to compare the different programs across various schools in order to figure out which ones are most successful.

This dinner not only helped me to decide on what school I am attending (GO DEVILSS!!!!) but it helped reaffirm the findings of my project.Thus far I have concluded that, in order for a female to be successful in the STEM fields, she must latch onto the confidence that current society is trying to build in her.

More to come soon! Thank you :)

STEM as Presented in Commercials

Hi, welcome back :) 

As I continue to conduct research for my project, I am starting to see a lot of patterns.

1) The mentality that "engineering is for boys" starts at a very young age
2) Females are being encouraged in all facets of life. The various campaigns geared towards building females up and encouraging them is giving all types of females more confidence and more boldness to pursue a variety of degrees, including engineering. 
3) Universities all across the country are making it a top priority to not only recruit females for their engineering programs but to retain them once they enroll. There are a variety of programs and initiatives geared towards helping females get all the way through college and into the workforce. 

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, women in today’s society are constantly being given the resources to not only expand their knowledge but to increase their confidence. Starting now at a young age, girls are being taught to love themselves for who they are and the things that they like to do. For example, Microsoft recently released a commercial titled "Girls Do Science" in which little girls begin describing some of the things they have made but then they question if it is socially acceptable. One girl even mentions that most of the scientists that students learn about are male, so science is something that the boys are supposed to do. However, the commercial takes it beyond opinion and draws in the fact that "only 2 out of 10 girls will go on to pursue science." This sad fact is because young girls are taught that science is for boys by the ratio they see of females to males on the television, in their classes, and from their surroundings. As mentioned with the Goldie Blox toys, this is a mentality that society is trying to correct. This is one of the largest factors contributing to the rise in the percentage of females in the field. It is commercials such as Microsoft's that are attempting to counter the traditional expectations for females. 

However, I believe that the women should be able to enter this field without the burden of feeling out of place. Currently, the average percentage of females in engineering programs at the university level is just shy of 20%... so even with more entering the field, we still stand in the minority. I think this causes females to transfer out and to leave the field. However, I will discuss how universities are also correcting this mentality in a future blog post.   

In conclusion, I believe that the key towards bringing more females into the industry is by catching them at a young age. In order for them to truly succeed at the highest levels, I believe that they need to know that they actually can do what it takes and that it is acceptable for them to be 1 of the 2 in every 10 girls that wishes to use their creativity in a way that shapes and transforms the world. 

Click here to watch the commercial discussed above. 

The Magic of Mentoring

Hi and welcome back!

Today I want to talk to you a little bit about how women are becoming successful in their engineering careers. According to an article titled "Women in Engineering" by Lisa M. Frehill, Peggy Layne, Ane Turner Johnson, and Sarah Hood, the key to a women's success in this field lies in the mentoring that she had access to. If she had more mentoring opportunities, she was more successful. I think this is a really important component that further proves how universities are incorporating the needs of females into their programs. Below is a brief overview of the article.

Mentoring has nearly become famous for its influence on their success. Articles appeared in in-flight magazines of major airlines and academic journals. Universities have started advertising different programs they have available. Everyone know that mentoring has a huge influence, but what exactly does mentoring provide the student?

First, we need to talk about the two kinds of mentoring. There is career mentoring and then there is psychological mentoring. Career mentoring, in order to be successful according to this article, should focus on finding someone in the student's future career path to act as a mentor and a guide. Psychological mentoring, on the other hand, should be focused on creating a bond between the counselor and the student in order for the student to gain emotional support and to build self-confidence. Through the combination of both of these types of mentoring, women find their careers in engineering more enjoyable and are thus more productive.

In all, I think this article helps to argue my point that the movement towards engineering is being driven by the confidence level of females. Due to society encouraging bravery, self-confidence, and boldness, women are starting to feel more comfortable pursuing this career. Furthermore, these mentoring programs act as stepping stones that help females get from where they are to where they want to be in their career despite the obstacles they might face!

I plan on looking into various examples of programs offered by schools that help females make the transition and help them find success. Come back next week for more! :)


If you have any questions on the article discussed above, or if you would like to read it for yourself, you can find it here.

Building Confidence in Young Girls - Ball Gown Bash

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog.

Today I want to talk about a program that I organized that took place today. Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been managing this event as well as working on my senior project. Oh, and before you say "Elizabeth, giving away prom dresses has nothing to do with engineering" just hear me out :) I'm sure you will catch the connection by the end!

The event was titled "Ball Gown Bash" and it was a non-profit event organized for the sole purpose of getting young high school girls a prom dress. The event was hosted today and nearly 50 girls showed up and only three left without a dress. These girls are living heartbreaking stories in which life is not always the prettiest. A few of the girls were homeless, others were in a situation where they couldn't facilitate prom financially. However, my co-organizer and I realized the importance of showing girls how truly beautiful they are starting from the youngest of ages. This event focused on bringing out young girl's confidence through providing them resources to feel beautiful. While the event was truly breathtaking and some of the stories were incredible, I bring it up because I think it reveals something important about our society.

Despite all of the new programs for women within different fields, we all still struggle with self-confidence issues. This not only seeps into our confidence socially but in life in general. Personally, I even believe this can influence academics on a major level. Girls who are not comfortable with who they tend to blend into the crowd - not stand out. Thus, women don't always want to pursue career paths that are non-traditional because they don't want to draw any negative attention to themselves.

I believe that through a variety of programs that are being put into place, women are starting to take pride in their individuality and are therefore becoming increasingly bold in their actions. However, I think this could be an interesting reason for why less women pursue engineering. When facing obstacles, the best thing to have on your side is confidence. I think it's super important for women to gain this.

My event today helped me see a greater perspective of the different life story that each individual has. I think the best approach to drawing girls into engineering would be to build their confidence because in accepting who they are I believe they might accept that they want to follow their dreams no matter how they might be viewed for doing so!

Below are some photos from the event. I hope these smiling faces bring as much joy to your heart as they did for me <3

The girls who attended the event were able to look and choose any dress from the five shown here. Then they were able to find all their needed accessories at the tables in the front!

To promote the event to the local community a few days prior to the event the local news came, shown above, to ask for last minute donations and to get a few more girls to sign up to recieve a dress! 

Shifting Societal Standards

Welcome back everyone!

I would like to start this post with a question. Please take a moment to think about your answer before you read the rest of this post... 

If you were living ten to fifteen years how many males would you see in the makeup industry, how many females would you see in engineering, how many males would you see as "stay at home dads?"

While these are just a few ideas I think that it really shows how far society has come. In the past it was few and far between that someone would step across the very clearly marked gender boundary. However, this concept has not only become accepted in our society but encouraged! 

I would like to bring up Covergirl as an example. At the start of 2017, this makeup company introduced their first male model. Despite being highly contrivesal, this was a bold declaration for gender equality. In a typically female industry males are now continuing to pop up. On all forms of social media there are males embracing this new found attention and sharing their ideas. I personally believe that a lot of gender boundaries are being broken due to increases in technology and communication throughout the world (more to come on this).

I bring this example up in order to bring up the broader topic that my project is commenting on. Just as women are moving into engineering, both males and females are taking on new roles. I believe that females now have the confidence to puruse engineering because of an overall acceptance in today's society.

Could Bias Towards STEM be Starting at the Elementary Level?

Hi all! :) Welcome back!! 

Thus far we have discussed my internship and a few of the ways that we can see women in the engineering field during their adulthood but we have not yet discussed the influence of the elementary atmosphere on women that ultimately pursue engineering. Not only is there a vast number of stereotypes within engineering but toys that develop engineering skills are simply not geared towards females. 

A great example is LEGO, a company that we probably all know. What you might not have noticed about legos is that they typically have a male oriented theme. They are labeled as "boy toys" and are normally found in the corresponding aisle at the store while the girl's toy aisle is filled with pink and purple colors with lots of Barbies, cooking toys, and baby dolls. This signals to young children that girls are supposed to cook and take care of babies while the boys build things. The traditional gender roles of society are ingrained into the toys available to young children. Furthermore, when students go to decide which activities they would like to do or which classes they want to take, the ideas taught to them during childhood make it such that females take cooking classes while the men are in the wood shop or they're building cars. 

One female, Debbie Sterling, recognized this after attending her first few engineering classes at the university level. Not only does this change how girls think they are supposed to act in society but it limits what they learn. It has been shown that females at the university level typically struggle with spacial reasoning while men don't. But if you take it back to childhood you can clearly see that men understand this better because they have practiced how to take the 2-D image in the lego instruction manual and build the actual 3-D product. Girls didn't normally play with legos so they weren't able to practice this concept. However, Debbie Sterling did a study while developing GoldieBlox that determined that even when young girls were given traditional legos they weren't interested. After many studies, she also found that merely changing the colors of legos to pink or purple to intrigue the girls wasn't enough. She found that the young girls wanted to follow a story. Thus, she took the lego type blox that she developed and wrote a book where a female engineer is building objects that the girls can actually follow along and build with her. Not only were girls then developing their spatial reasoning but they were using their imagination. The story of how Debbie Sterling broke through the barrier in the toy industry is truly inspiring. I encourage you all to watch her TedTalk here. As you can see through this new product, there are people who want to encourage the next generation of female engineers.

So, it is clear that the struggle for women pursuing STEM fields doesn't just start when the enter high school but that it is a life-long battle. I hope that through this project you will start to see how deep this issue goes but that you also acknowledge the progress that is being made due to shifting barriers in today's society!