Growing up, Bridget McDonough liked science fiction. She was into math and learning about how rockets work. But she didn’t see a lot of women with those same interests.

“I think if I had had more female representation, it would’ve been so much easier for me to embrace that and not be afraid of going into STEM,” she said.

Now a junior aerospace engineering major at Syracuse University, McDonough has met women who share her interests — and her frustrations. McDonough and Dalya Omar, a senior aerospace engineering major, were disappointed by the lack of women in their field. But they still felt empowered by the women students, professors and administrators they encountered in STEM, Omar said.

So McDonough and Omar created a 10-minute video featuring inspirational women from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, simultaneously shining light on the lack of women in STEM and celebrating the women in the field. The video was released Friday in advance of International Women’s Day, which is celebrated every year on March 8.

“We not only wanted to celebrate the women around us who inspire us every day, but we also wanted to support them and give them a platform to share their ideas and talents to the world,” McDonough said.

Omar points to the lack of women representation in STEM as a reason why women don’t stay in the sciences.

“If you don’t see examples of people like you succeeding in the field, it’s hard to see yourself succeeding in the field,” she said.

The students began planning the video in mid-January and started filming in February, Omar said. The video features 12 women, ranging in experience from students to program directors to department chairs and the dean.

Julie Hasenwinkel, senior associate dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said she was somewhat surprised to hear students talk about having the same challenges that she had as a woman student in engineering.

“It’s disappointing that as a field, we haven’t made more progress,” she said. “There’s still a long way to go.”

Hasenwinkel, who is featured in the video, said she was enthusiastic to be part of such a timely, meaningful project.

“I think it’s important for (students) to see the great work that students are doing,” she said. “The female students in the video are great leaders in our college, and they themselves are great role models.”

The women featured in the video were receptive when asked to be part of the project, Omar said, which surprised her because she and McDonough weren’t affiliated with any organization. They wanted to be free of restrictions in making the video, and they had help from some friends who study film.

“The video is meant to be biting and unapologetic,” Omar said.

Beyond resonating with people in celebration of International Women’s Day, the video also aims to be close enough to home that it creates a sense of community among the women in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, Omar said.

It’s important to have a day dedicated to women, McDonough said, because it’s easy for people to get wrapped up in their day-to-day lives, and it’s nice to take time to highlight and appreciate the dynamic nature and talent women have.

The video has received positive reaction in the days since it was released.

“Our social medias have been blowing up,” Omar said.

Jonathan Hoster, undergraduate recruitment specialist at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, has been sharing the video online and throughout the engineering community. Hoster said the video could have a particularly strong impact on parents.

It’s common for little boys to receive Legos to play with, but it’s not as automatic for girls, Hoster said. He recalled the controversy over Target removing gender-based signs from their toy aisles, and a Verizon commercial that highlighted how girls are sometimes treated in ways that may dissuade them from following their passion for science.

“These might sound like simple things,” Hoster said, “but I think the accumulation of these kinds of experiences that children have can direct their interests in one way or another. … Bringing this to light and maybe encouraging parents to think differently about gender roles when their children are young, I think can be important.”

McDonough said being able to see women who are challenging the stereotypes of what it means to be a woman engineer or computer scientist is so influential to the younger generation of women, and that is what the video intends to do.

“We hope to inspire not only the future generation of women in STEM, but also inspire the current generation to keep pushing boundaries and making strides,” McDonough said.

Published on March 6, 2018 at 11:31 pm

Contact Taylor: tnwatson@syr.edu