Communications of the ACM
Women Talk Tech and Science at MIT Panel
Credit: Learn Together
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently hosted a panel on women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, providing an opportunity for women to discuss their experiences in the tech industry. Many of the women expressed feeling discouraged from even pursuing technology in school and feeling excluded once they did break into the industry.
"In high school, I was told [by my guidance counselor and my teachers] to pursue something that was a little bit less demanding," says Intel's Gabriela Gonzalez.
The panelists also said women in STEM careers may feel pressure to present themselves in a certain way just to be acknowledged or recognized. "As a woman I really had to go in thinking, 'What do men act like, how should I act like a man but not too much like a man so they don't think I'm strange,'" says MIT Ph.D. student Jean Yang. "When you spend all your time thinking about that, it's really hard to do much else."
Even some MIT students say they have felt unwelcome on campus at first. "You have to work really hard for people to take you seriously," says MIT student Tami Forrester. "We really need to make sure that women have the privilege to move forward in any field we want."
From The Boston Globe
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