Upwards of 20 people, among them biology, kinesiology and computer science majors, sat in Johnson Hall as the Women in STEM club (WiSTEM) held its first of their biweekly meetings Feb. 20. Club founder Alyanna McGrath (junior) said underclassmen in her computer science classes sought guidance from her, leading her to realize there are limited safe spaces for underrepresented groups to come together in these academic disciplines.
“Here, there was nothing where we could really come as one community,” McGrath said. “I was interested in filling the gap.”
According to McGrath, she had the idea to bring WiSTEM to campus in the previous year, having discussed it with biology professor Gretchen North, but she said that many first-year students inspired her to form the club in the spring semester. North said that even though there are a significant number of female-identifying faculty at Occidental, clubs like WiSTEM are important to have for students in departments with primarily male representation.
“[In] physics, math, computer science and geology, typically [at Occidental] and certainly nationally, women are underrepresented,” North said. “In many cases, less than 10 percent of those areas [are women].”
According to North, while the representation of women in fields such as physics has improved, there are still many barriers to entering the sciences. North said that even with improvements in representation in these fields, the need for a group like WiSTEM is not changing, as everyone is searching for a community based on shared interests and shared work.
“There are still societal assumptions and expectations,” North said. “Even if there is parity within a field, it doesn’t necessarily mean that within the field, women are treated as though they were men.”
North said that many students come to Occidental having experienced these social expectations surrounding women in the sciences. According to North, evidence supports that there is no real, inherent difference in the brain about women’s quantitative reasoning abilities compared to men’s, though it’s hard to shake these kinds of convictions.
“My role is to show that there is strong faculty support and interest, but it’s their club,” North said. “They build their own community, and I support it.”
According to McGrath, the focus of WiSTEM will be mostly inward, as opposed to similar organizations such as Boundless Brilliance, an organization that promotes STEM education for middle and high school students. She said she expects more focus on professional development to come later on, once a community aspect has been established, to help members approach things like scholarships and graduate education.
“We already know that we’re interested in STEM, we’re just trying to figure out how we can get a community of people together,” McGrath said.
McGrath said that there were earlier attempts at creating a club for building community among women in STEM, including a group called Women in Mathematics and Science (WIMS), but many of its members graduated, which led to its deprecation. McGrath said her goal is to make WiSTEM into an organization that survives long after its founding members graduate, which takes a strong base and motivation.
“I keep saying to the underclassmen who’ve been helping on this journey that when I’m no longer here, I don’t want this to leave with me,” McGrath said. “I want this to continue for you all.”
McGrath said that the club is considering events such as trips to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, having alumni panels and creating a weekly newsletter to notify people of opportunities and scholarships in the future.
One of the other founders of the club, Kelly Shen (first year) said she is excited for the potential to foster community and solidarity among female-identifying students majoring in STEM fields through the club.
“I can show people that I’m going down this path, and I can support other people who are going down this path,” Shen said. “Representation is not always easy to find.”
According to Shen, one of the other major benefits of a club like WiSTEM is the sense of shared struggle and work that brings people together.
“In a lot of things that I do, they may not be super difficult or impossible, but when there’s someone running alongside you, doing the same things as you, it feels so much more comforting to know that you’re not alone in it,” Shen said. “I can build off their knowledge and their sense of certainty to help me with mine.”
According to Shen, she learns day to day from the women around her, including from her female-identifying professors and the female-identifying students in her classes with her.
“It’s a group of really amazing women and students who want to support each other and who want to see people succeed in STEM. That’s what I think is the power of this club,” Shen said. “You find a group of very determined people who all want to make a difference in their respective fields, and you’re never going to find a group like that in classes or around campus.”
Contact Avinash Iyer at iyera@oxy.edu
