In honor of Women’s History Month, Skyline College organized a panel discussion of Women in STEM on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. The event was a great success, with over 150 students in attendance. It was part of the Science in Action Lecture series, a biweekly event presented in partnership with the San Francisco State University Bridges to Baccalaureate Program, the Skyline College Science, Math, Technology Division, and Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA).
The panel consisted of seven Skyline College faculty members representing various STEM fields. It included (pictured from left to right) Emilie Hein from Physics, Polin Yadak from Physics, Alice Pevyhouse from Astronomy and Physics, Denise Hum from Mathematics, Maryam Khan from Engineering and Physics, Jing Folsom from Biochemistry and Elsa Jimenez-Samayoa from Biology (not pictured).
The event was hosted in collaboration with the WISER! Club (Women in Science and Engineering Represent!), who helped coordinate and moderate the discussion.
After brief introductions, the panelists took turns answering questions from the audience, ranging from what factors helped them gain the confidence to go into STEM to what difficulties they still face as minorities in their fields. The audience was very receptive to the personal stories and compelling experiences that were shared. It was an empowering and rewarding moment for people on both sides of the table. The hour went by very fast and more questions still needed to be answered, so a similar event is already being planned for Fall 2019. Please stay tuned!
A big thank you to all faculty, staff and students who were in attendance, and to Ray Hernandez, Dean of Science / Mathematics / Technology Division; Maggie Li, Division Assistant; and Nadia Tariq, Program Services Coordinator for their support and assistance in making this event successful.
Article by Jing Folsom, Emilie Hein, Denise Hum, Elsa Jimenez-Samayoa, Maryam Khan, Alice Pevyhouse and Polin Yadak | Photo by Nadia Tariq
