教授为女性在STEM领域铺平道路

佩吉·皮勒|生物学

佩吉削皮器 arrived in 1989 as the first female biology professor at Susquehanna and only one of two female science professors at the university, something Peeler said was not at all unusual. She said giving SU students the chance to see a woman in a position of authority in STEM made her feel a little bit like a groundbreaker.

“Working in the STEM field for my whole career gave me understanding of the importance of supporting women at the beginning of their careers,皮勒说. And it was that understanding that led her to collaborate with an interdepartmental group of faculty to start SU’s Women in STEM program in 2016.

现在是查尔斯B. 德根斯坦生物学教授, 皮勒负责STEM项目中的女性, which currently has over 50 student members. The goal of the program is to prepare women for careers in a workforce that has traditionally been a male-dominated space and to support them as female-identifying students studying in challenging majors. Though STEM fields are still male-dominated, Peeler noted how far the field has come since she entered it.

“It is remarkable how unremarkable women science professors have become,” she says.

Peeler said she tries to be a mentor and has had students and alumni tell her they view her as one. This year all four of her senior capstone students were women and have participated in the Women in STEM program. As graduates, they will enter a world very different from the one in which Peeler began her career.

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艾琳·莱因哈特|神经科学

As a woman in STEM, Professor of Biology 艾琳Rhinehart is all too aware that when asked to name a prominent or influential scientist, 大多数人倾向于给白人男性起名. For many women and individuals of color in STEM, the scientists they learn about do not seem relatable.

为了帮助解决这个问题, Rhinehart required her Introduction to Physiology students learn about a scientist from a list of women and people of color. 他们写到, presented and discussed the scientist’s personal life, career trajectory and scientific contributions, and also shared how they related to the scientist personally.

Rhinehart conducted a pre- and post-course survey, which showed a significant shift in students believing scientists are predominantly white and male, and a shift in the number of students who said they could relate to scientists personally.

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詹妮弗Elick | EARTH & 环境科学

地球副教授 & 环境科学 詹妮弗Elick 总是对大自然感兴趣吗, but as a student didn’t know how to explore that interest as a field of study. The one-time freelance photojournalist entered college as a journalism major and soon discovered that geology combined all of her interests.

She describes herself as a traditional geologist and has spent time studying the rock record in an effort to understand environments of the ancient world.

Elick has been able to implement art into her geology work through sketching and photography.

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geneve Henry |化学

当 Geneive亨利 joined the faculty at Susquehanna in 2003, she became one of the first professors of color to be hired in the university’s natural sciences departments — a dynamic that was foreign to her while growing up in Jamaica, w在这里 she attended an all-female high school taught mainly by women. 今天她是查尔斯B. 德根斯坦化学教授.

“不像美国, w在这里 you rarely find women in leadership positions in some STEM disciplines, 但在牙买加却不是这样,亨利解释道. She estimated half of her science professors were women.

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Alathea詹森 |数学 & 计算机科学

作为一个孩子， Alathea詹森 enjoyed playing with patterns, solving puzzles and using logic. 所以从逻辑上讲，数学成了她的爱好. Math was also her father’s best subject and he encouraged her to try as hard as she could. 詹森也看到了其中的规律.

“That’s something a lot of female mathematicians have in common — our dads encouraged us,詹森说。, 数学助理教授 & 计算机科学.

At Susquehanna, she strives to support students and help their dreams become reality.

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Jan Reichard-Brown | HEALTH CARE STUDIES

生物学副教授 Jan Reichard-Brown had no idea how male-dominated the STEM field was until she went to college in the 1970s. She often felt judged on a different level than her peers, and still remembers an instance when her gender was made to overshadow her academic accomplishment.

“He said, ‘You won’t believe who got a perfect score.’ And he pointed to me, like they would never believe a woman had done this,” she recalls. “我从未忘记这一点.”

Reichard-Brown uses her position as director of health care studies to “empower my students to reach for their dreams and then provide them the support they need to make that happen.”

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Samya Zain |物理学

当物理学副教授 Samya Zain was furthering her education in physics, most women in her native Pakistan did not pursue higher education, 尤其是在他们结婚之后. 然而, Zain was married and had a 3-month-old child, something some of her male classmates took issue with.

“One of my male classmates even told me that I had wasted a seat that should have been a boy’s seat at the physics department in the university,Zain回忆道, “and that I should stay at home and take care of my child.”

She credits her father for insisting she had the same educational opportunities as her brothers.

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Read more about Susquehanna’s Women in STEM 在这里. 

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