By Alina Rai, Base 11 Fellow
As a woman, you may find yourself in a tough position being among a relatively small number of women pursuing a STEM degree. Women earned only 19.3% of bachelor’s degrees in engineering in 2013, according to the National Science Board — and only 3.1% were awarded to minority women, like me (NSF).
I am the youngest of five children in my family. Among my three sisters, I am the only one pursuing a degree in engineering. While growing up, I struggled trying to figure out who I am and who I wanted to become, largely due to cultural stereotypes toward women and the infrequent presence of my parents and family.
Without much career guidance, I managed to remain focused on making school my priority. During high school, I tried to keep myself busy so I joined the badminton and the wrestling team. Both sports valued independence and teamwork, which are key characteristics of the person I am today.
Wrestling mainly taught me that I was no less of a human than any of my male peers, and this inspired me to do what I aspire to without labeling it as masculine or feminine. I began to realize my desire to do engineering, which is a male-dominated field, and I continue to motivate myself to pursue my goal while overcoming the obstacles that come my way.
Here are few tips that may help you get through similar challenges, and hopefully inspire you to continue achieving your path to STEM success, as well.
Don’t let anyone discourage you.
At times it may be discouraging to find yourself surrounded by males, and the thought of joining a male-dominated workforce after college may seem rather unsettling. But don’t let that steer you away from pursuing your goals or dreams in STEM. Instead, use them as your motivation to get where you want to be, because you are capable of doing anything and everything just as much as they are. If you find that your family does not support your desired career field because it doesn’t fit their expectation of your role as a woman, don’t let that get you down. Take that chance and show them that your career choice will benefit you and your family rather than harming them. This could be done by receiving academic awards, such as making the dean’s list, getting scholarships, or even simply participating in STEM-related programs.
Challenge and push yourself every day.
To be successful, a desire for challenge can always help you become a better version of yourself, and help you learn to cope with the challenges that come your way. For example, as a student with a learning disability, I have challenged myself by taking honors courses rather than normal courses, and I succeeded in them. In turn, that success has inspired me to continue pursuing my goals in the engineering field.
Taking honors courses can help in many ways, such as understanding material in greater depth, further motivating yourself to learn more about a particular topic, discovering something you may or may not have interest in, or even winning scholar awards that value your hard work. Pushing yourself will help build a better self, and become more knowledgeable.
Get involved and stay involved.
One of the ways to become and remain a great candidate for future opportunities is by participating in organizations or clubs related to your specific major or STEM generally. These can include Base 11, robotics club, Women in Engineering club, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), honors societies and much more. You can become an active participant or even an officer within the program, gaining and honing your leadership skills.
Once you get involved, stay involved. If you keep yourself in the same program for a long time, you are showing commitment and dedication to improve yourself and the organization. Those are great features to have and present that will help you stand out to other colleges, potential fellowships or career opportunities that come your way.
Don’t be afraid to take risks.
Apply, apply, apply! Take as many opportunities as possible and apply to scholarships, internships or fellowships within your interests or more. This will only help you become more educated and gain real-world experiences that help you become a better candidate for future opportunities.
Over the fall semester of 2015, I took the risk of applying for several summer internships, including ones at NASA, YouTube and even the prestigious university Caltech. All of the internship opportunities were highly competitive, yet I still applied because I wanted to prepare myself for future acceptances or rejections that will come my way. But mostly I wanted to get a head start on the STEM field that I desire so much.
Alina conducted experiments with gelatin in a water tunnel at Caltech.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, that’s what duct tape is for.
Yes, mistakes are one of my favorites. I enjoy stumbling upon them, but mostly I love learning from them. This is important because you can gain so much from making mistakes. The STEM field is not the easiest path to take, whether it’s deciding what aspect of STEM to pursue or succeeding in challenging courses at your college. During a math test, you may have forgotten to place a negative sign in front of your answer, and get points deducted from your score. But guess what? That mistake will trigger you to remember to double-check for negative signs on the next test. This same trick of learning from your mistakes can be used outside of class, as well.
Speak up for yourself.
Classes are being taught so fast, you’re confused, and you have so many unanswered questions. Speak up, don’t be afraid to ask questions in class or in office hours. Chances are, other students have the same questions that you do. It can be very challenging to recover after falling behind in STEM or major-related courses, so you want to do what you can to falling behind and putting your grade at risk.
Also, do not be afraid of asking questions or sharing your ideas in an internship experience or extra-curricular activity. When I interned at Caltech over the summer, I had no previous expertise knowledge on my project, so I had so many questions. The only way I could learn was to comfortably and constantly ask my mentor questions. Since he was more familiar with the project, I had to share all my ideas – whether they were good or bad. By doing so, I was able to own up to the ideas and schemes I came up with, and share with others and get feedbacks on them. In the end, I felt accomplished and was able to say the project was MY project and not anyone else’s. Your thoughts and ideas are important, so let them be heard by others.
Be confident and positive.
It never hurts to be confident and optimistic about your decisions. If you remain positive about the choices you have made or the classes you are taking, you will continue to motivate yourself to do better. Set up smaller goals, and build upon them. Once you achieve those goals, you will find yourself being more and more confident.
For instance, being one of the few girls in a male-dominated STEM field can lead to negative thoughts and ruin your confidence, but you pushing yourself through the stereotypes and continuing to pursue a career in STEM field is a huge accomplishment. You believed in yourself when some may not have, and this was all due to your positivity and your motivation to reach higher. For more, Lynn F Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman have provided students with 15 Ways to Boost Your Confidence at College.
Make connections with those with similar interest.
While following the tips above, do not forget to make connections as you continue your journey as a STEM major. Whether it’s classmates, professors or others working in the STEM field, keep in touch with them. Again, be curious and ask questions about their path. You will either learn from them or find inspiration from them. Making connections will help you grow, and can lead you to finding the career you desire. One specific example is staying in touch with at least one of your STEM course professors and building a relationship with him or her. They can help you with recommendation letters, which can help you achieve a fellowship or internship in the field you desire, because they know you both academically and personally.
I hope these tips will inspire you to continue pursuing a STEM related career path as it has for me. I didn’t think I would ever get accepted into such a high-ranking institution like Caltech as anything — neither a student or an intern! But because I made an effort and demonstrated my desire to learn and attain more knowledge as an engineer, I did it. I remained hopeful and positive and I actually got into my dream university as a summer intern.
Therefore, don’t give up just yet, you are capable of so much more.
For further encouragement, read “Women in STEM: Academics’ Advice for Young Women,” where successful women STEM give some pointers for young women like you and I to continue reaching our STEM target.
Alina Rai is a Skyline College student and Base 11 Fellow who spent the summer interning at Caltech. Find out how you can intern at Caltech and other prestigious universities, here.