Graduation  with Leadership Distinction in Research

Personal Background:

Before moving to Rock Hill, I attended Chester Park Elementary school up until the 4th grade. During the summer of my 2nd and 3rd grade year, the school divided into 3 departments: The School of the Arts, the School of Technology, and year-round school – which meant school was in session a large majority of the year, including the summer. With the help of our parents every student had to decide which school we would like to attend. I immediately told my mom I wanted to attend the School of Technology. At a very young age, I was able to recognize how the world was becoming more technological and wanted to be a part of the growth. Within the classroom, we utilized DANA Technology and were the first within the 3 schools to have SMART boards. Our teachers allowed us to participate by using the technology to answer the questions or take quizzes. During that time, I never noticed how around 75% of my classmates were male students, but reflecting upon it, it’s a little disturbing. I was introduced to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) because of my eagerness to learn and want of success. Although, STEM-based careers tend to be male-dominated professions, I believe women can have an immense impact on the STEM fields, if they are introduced to it early in their educational journey.

My choice to attend USCL also had an immense impact on the opportunities that were presented to me, especially having many influential women as STEM professors. I was introduced to research by the two exercise science professors on campus, who also became my mentors throughout this entire process. It’s not extremely common to be able to work in a research lab as a sophomore. Our small campus allowed me to have a more personal connection with my professors. They are prominent leaders on campus who do a wonderful job promoting research to our campus’ students. All of my science professors also taught the labs that were included within the classes, allowing me to continually build these relationships. The USCL campus encompasses 43% women within the STEM courses. These 10 women alone, hold leadership roles throughout the campus, such as division chair and research/chemistry club mentors.  The example set by these passionate female leaders in STEM have provided me with a stronger mentality to pursue and accomplish any goals I set for myself. Although, these professions may be male-dominated at the moment, if young women are continually exposed and presented with women in leadership roles, it will become more realistic to pursue a profession in STEM. 

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Problem:

Many young women are not aware of the benefits and immense amount of opportunities they have when it comes to having a career in STEM. From personal experience, careers within the STEM field are not presented as readily to young women as they are to men. I don’t believe it’s due to women lacking the knowledge or skills, but simply due to the idea that these fields are predominantly male-oriented and have always been that way.   Society has created this false sense that women cannot perform as exceptional as their male counterparts. Researchers have documented how stereotypes can lower girls’ aspirations for science and engineering careers over time (Dawson, 2014). According to an Executive Summary by American Association of University Women (2014), “when test administrators tell students that girls and boys are equally capable in math, however, the difference in performance essentially disappears, illustrating that changes in the learning environment can improve girls’ achievements in math ( page 6).”

 I believe continuous empowerment of young women is how we began to emphasize the possibilities a “male-dominated” career has.

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Goal/General Recommendations:

The central goal that this leadership section is to defy the stereotype that men are superior when it comes to having a career in STEM. I would ultimately like to help young women realise the power they have to accomplish anything. According to an Executive Summary by American Association of University Women (2014), “Exposing girls to successful female role models can also help counter negative stereotypes in math and science, because girls see that people like them can be successful in these fields. Role models who describe their own experiences and challenges and how they overcame them can also help students see their struggles as a normal part of the learning process rather than as a signal of low ability (page 6)”.  If I hadn’t been introduced to technology in elementary school, I doubt I would have tried to fulfil a career in science. Although nursing is a female-dominated profession, it encompasses science and the utilisation of technology – ultimately helping me obtain a career in STEM.  After reading several articles, I have realised considering nursing as STEM is a very controversial topic. Some researchers do not consider nursing under the stem umbrella because science is the primary focus while taking prerequisites but encompasses more than just science and technology. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) includes nursing in its list of STEM fields as, at minimum, STEM-adjacent--but the Department of Commerce's Economics and Statistics Administration does not. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn't include nursing on its list of STEM fields that make non-citizens eligible for a visa extension (Hedgecock, 2016). Nurses themselves believe including this career under STEM does not do their job enough justice because it involves communication, critical thought, cultural awareness, psychology.

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In promoting STEM careers to future college students, I will have to rely on skills I discussed in my first Key Insight, “Breaking the Communication Barrier.” Communicating to girls while at a young age will help leave a lasting impression on them and influence their decision to choose a career in STEM. Because they are younger, I will need to create a presentation that is age appropriate and interactive to get them excited about learning what STEM has to offer. I want these young girls to be involved and excited about my presentation so I plan to enhance my nonverbal cues (facial expression, body language), as learned in RCAM 205, to help make it an overall success. By being willing to let my guard down and have fun with these students, I believe I can connect with them more deeply and be considered more than a mentor.

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The world is becoming more technology-oriented every day and future generations will be responsible for continuing to integrate new ideas and coming up with the next big thing. It is important to create a platform for students at a young age to help the channel their creativity and evolve as an individual. STEM majors have an immense amount of opportunities and will continue to grow and thrive. I want students to understand that when they choose a career in STEM, there are no limits to where they can go or what they can accomplish. Just as USC has given me an opportunity to explore and a platform to thrive, I want to create an avenue for future generations who have similar aspirations as me.

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Implementation:

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1. Early Introduction to STEM:

After graduating from nursing school, my plan is to give back to my community in as many ways as possible and I would ultimately like to mentor and guide young women into STEM careers.  Since I grew up in Chester and Rock Hill school districts, I will begin to implement my plan beginning with 2-5th grade students by visiting the elementary schools within these areas. I still have many connections within both school districts, so making contact with faculty and staff will not be difficult. Along with contacting people within the school districts, I aim to get support from the communities of both areas by stating my position and goals of the group, similar to how I spoke to our state representatives at Carolina Day for continued financial support.  By having the community’s support, I can gain funding from local businesses, have fundraisers, and invest in other organizations to help create an after-school enrichment group and field trips and explore the many opportunities STEM has to offer.  I plan to have an assembly within these schools and talk to the students about careers in STEM and emphasize how gender does not define what career of profession they must enter. I want to reverse the idea that society has put in their minds of men being the dominant figures and women having a career in more of a servitude role.

Extracurricular activities also provide a gateway for students to explore themselves as well as what the world has to offer. I would like to create an after-school enrichment program for these young girls that would meet once a month called #STEMINIST. This program would be dedicated towards preparing them for a career in STEM but ultimately allowing me to be their mentor and helping them grow into successful women. I am passionate about helping people regardless of the circumstance. When I have students during summer orientations at USCL, I try to build relationships with them so that if they ever need someone to talk to or need help around campus they can contact me. I aim to do the same with the young women in my group. My goal whether at orientation or within my STEMINIST group is to help individuals in any way I can. I would plan to take them on field trips throughout the community, meet women who have held leadership roles in a STEM field, and provide them with an outlet to not only talk about STEM but embrace who they are and who they would like to become. One of my first field trips would be to bring them to the USCL campus and talk to them about my experiences and how I got involved in research. By allowing them to meet the people I was mentored by, I believe it will be very impactful, being that this campus is where many opportunities arose for me. Although this program would end in the 5th grade, I plan to do my best to stay in contact with these young women as they grow by asking the parents’ permission to contact them via mail, email, and/or phone. Presenting the idea of STEM to young girls early will potentially increase the number of women we have in these professions later in life.

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2. Community Engagement in Local High Schools: Next, I would like to talk to graduating seniors to possibly influence their career decisions. Senior year is a very stressful but important time. Fortunately, I had already decided the answer to the biggest question in life at that point which was what I profession I wanted to pursue. Some students don’t have the answer to that question yet, simply because they are unaware of their resources. I hope to become that resource and outlet for both male and female students. Being that I created many personal relationships with many of the faculty members throughout my high school career, I feel they will be willing to help me fulfil my mission of reaching out and talking to students. I am a first-generation college student, so I empathise with students who do not know what the world offers. During my visit at the high school, I would hold an assembly emphasising the growth and expansion of STEM careers within the world along with a fellow male colleague. I would have my male counterpart talk about his career and what influenced him to choose a field in STEM.  I hope at the end of sharing my experiences and knowledge with students, I influence at least one young woman to take on a career in STEM and a young man to agree that nursing is a great field. By having a male by my side while visiting school, I can eliminate some of the gender bias and hopefully influence a male to go into nursing by showing him the various opportunities, career paths, and some statistical reasons as well. There are limitless opportunities for women in STEM and for men in nursing and I hope to continuously promote the benefits all the careers STEM must offer.

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Final Thoughts: Although my primary mission is to promote girls into STEM, it would also be to remind young men that nursing is not a gender specific profession either. Historically, nursing has been a profession dominated by women, but the rate of men in nursing has increased drastically. Ultimately, my goal is to promote gender equality and at a very young age. I want a young girl to feel like she can succeed in her dream of becoming an engineer and I want young boys to understand that nursing is not gender specific and that they do not have to feel pressured to choose a career just because it seems masculine. There are many amazing male nurses and wonderful women who are chemical engineers – emphasising equality can create a more productive and successful generation.

 

Evaluation:

I will know my plan was effective by watching the growth of women in STEM and men in nursing over the course of the years that follow. I will contact the colleges within the area to track the number of women pursuing STEM majors and the number of men pursing a nursing degree. Although there may be many other contributing factors, I plan to follow-up with the students I mentor frequently, to see if I made a difference of choosing a career path in STEM. I would also like to conduct a research study to see the the growth of STEM majors over the course of a few years.

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References:

Dawson, P. A. (2014). Resource Review: Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Journal of Youth Development, 9(4), 110-112. doi:10.5195/jyd.2014.44

Hedgecock, S. (2016, March 29). Is Nursing A STEM Field? Even Experts Disagree. Retrieved April 06, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhedgecock/2016/03/29/is-nursing-a-stem-field-does-it-matter/#9dc6ddc5b47e