[Music]
super massive black holes I blew the
minds of my high school classmates
during a speech my sophomore year I
began with at this moment we are all
fighting against the Earth’s gravity
while speeding around our Sun at 67,000
miles per hour but a black hole its
gravity is so strong nothing can escape
its pull not even light moving at 670
million miles per hour my name is Brenda
I’m a 33 year old female I’m an athlete
I run marathons and play soccer my
favorite color is purple I wear makeup
enjoy pedicures I race motorcycles I
also have a passion for math and science
as a college physics teacher my students
are often surprised to see me the first
day of class I am NOT who they expected
because I am not the stereotypical image
of a physicist and I love that I don’t
look like Albert Einstein and I
certainly don’t act like Sheldon from
the Big Bang Theory and I can’t help but
notice that my physics with calculus
students are predominantly male
sometimes I have no females in my
courses at all these are the students
that plan to pursue a degree in science
technology engineering and math while
the percentage of women in STEM has
increased today women still hold less
than 25% of all stem jobs why is that
the gender gap comes in adolescence when
young women begin to avoid STEM fields
that so many believe are only for men
but collaboration
is the foundation of stem research
diverse teams will incite innovation
most of us have heard the popular notion
that men are from Mars and women are
from Venus women do offer a different
perspective and we approach the
solutions to problems differently than
men having more women in stem will lead
to new ideas and new inventions that can
improve all of our lives so what can we
do right now to recruit and retain the
untapped talent of women for stem
professions
the answer is early stem exposure career
awareness and female mentors I was
encouraged by my parents and identified
by my teachers as having an interest in
stem from a young age I grew up playing
with my older brothers Legos building
blocks and construction toys it was his
book on black holes that first sparked
my fascination as a family we would
often visit the Chicago Museum of
Science and Industry and the planetarium
engage her early and often with stem
concepts outside of the classroom girls
are natural-born scientists just like
little boys they look at the world
around them with inquisitive eyes
experiment push boundaries and learn by
doing I have always been curious about
how things work I can remember when the
lightbulb first went on and I understood
how a car engine operates or building my
first electric motor I was amazed the
first time that I generated electricity
using only the motion of a magnet
science it’s like magic but real
girls are interested in stem it is our
responsibility to give them a positive
early experience physics should be fun
don’t laugh and that wasn’t a joke but
in after-school stem Club that allows
young girls to just explore have fun and
that’s LED and championed by a female
teacher can make a huge difference when
I speak to the females in my courses
about what led them to choose their
major it is almost always a passionate
teacher who had a profound impact on
them teachers influence and teachers
make a difference but let us all be
aware of the messages that we are
sending our young girls before the movie
hidden figures how many of us had heard
the name Catherine Johnson / even aware
of the female african-american
mathematicians who served a vital role
in NASA during the early years of the
u.s. space program did you know that in
1969 the first ever computer science Man
of the Year award was actually given to
a female by the name of Grace Hopper
she was a true pioneer in computer
programming during World War two or
since it began in 1936
did you see the headlines when Miriam
Mert Suhani made history in 2014 as
being the first female to receive the
Fields Medal known as the Nobel Prize of
mathematics we need to stop ignoring and
start celebrating the many achievements
of women in STEM these stories inspire
over the years I have learned that girls
are passionate about social
environmental and health related issues
but without career awareness will most
likely not know how these interests can
translate to a job in stem stem career
days can inform girls about the variety
of occupations available
having a strong knowledge base in STEM
subjects will give girls the opportunity
to access any career path day later
choose math was the foundation that I
needed to excel in physics and when I
later became captivated by one of the
most complex electric circuit systems in
our entire universe the human body
it was my graduate studies and Applied
Physics that allowed me to develop an
updated mathematical model for measuring
the magnetic field of a damaged nerve in
a patient using a less invasive
technique but throughout all my years in
school I never had a female stem mentor
someone I could turn to when I was
feeling intimidated alone or lacking
confidence it was during these times
that I wanted and needed to hear from
another woman in stem about what
motivated her how she overcame
challenges and how she got to where she
is today I can truly understand why so
many capable females fall out of the
stem education pipeline and it breaks my
heart to think how easily my passion for
science and my desire to share it with
all of you could have been forever lost
a new study from the University of
Massachusetts found that 100 percent of
female engineering students remained in
the program after the first year if they
had a female mentor 89 percent continued
with no mentor and only 82 percent
continued with a male stem mentor there
is power in having role models who prove
that female success is possible in a
male-dominated field the representation
of women in STEM is a national workforce
issue
but one that we can begin to address at
the local level
I propose a STEM program for girls in
grades 6 through 8 as part of this
program female stem faculty at colleges
and universities would form a
partnership with the local middle
schools to plan one educational session
on campus each month these experiences
will establish the connection between
education and future careers parents
would be involved with career awareness
and planning events local industry could
provide female speakers who are
practicing stem professionals in the
community who could also provide that
quality mentoring academic decisions
made in middle school can open doors to
stem career paths we can empower young
women through STEM education generations
ago women had very few choices of
occupations today women can do and be
anything choose to compete for the high
demand high-paying stem occupations that
allow you to create design invent and
change our world you gotta have a dream
if you don’t have a dream how you ever
gonna have a dream come true my name is
Brenda I am a college physics teacher I
have the privilege and joy of explaining
the rules of our universe I am a woman
in stem
[Music]
[Applause]
you
super massive black holes I blew the
minds of my high school classmates
during a speech my sophomore year I
began with at this moment we are all
fighting against the Earth’s gravity
while speeding around our Sun at 67,000
miles per hour but a black hole its
gravity is so strong nothing can escape
its pull not even light moving at 670
million miles per hour my name is Brenda
I’m a 33 year old female I’m an athlete
I run marathons and play soccer my
favorite color is purple I wear makeup
enjoy pedicures I race motorcycles I
also have a passion for math and science
as a college physics teacher my students
are often surprised to see me the first
day of class I am NOT who they expected
because I am not the stereotypical image
of a physicist and I love that I don’t
look like Albert Einstein and I
certainly don’t act like Sheldon from
the Big Bang Theory and I can’t help but
notice that my physics with calculus
students are predominantly male
sometimes I have no females in my
courses at all these are the students
that plan to pursue a degree in science
technology engineering and math while
the percentage of women in STEM has
increased today women still hold less
than 25% of all stem jobs why is that
the gender gap comes in adolescence when
young women begin to avoid STEM fields
that so many believe are only for men
but collaboration
is the foundation of stem research
diverse teams will incite innovation
most of us have heard the popular notion
that men are from Mars and women are
from Venus women do offer a different
perspective and we approach the
solutions to problems differently than
men having more women in stem will lead
to new ideas and new inventions that can
improve all of our lives so what can we
do right now to recruit and retain the
untapped talent of women for stem
professions
the answer is early stem exposure career
awareness and female mentors I was
encouraged by my parents and identified
by my teachers as having an interest in
stem from a young age I grew up playing
with my older brothers Legos building
blocks and construction toys it was his
book on black holes that first sparked
my fascination as a family we would
often visit the Chicago Museum of
Science and Industry and the planetarium
engage her early and often with stem
concepts outside of the classroom girls
are natural-born scientists just like
little boys they look at the world
around them with inquisitive eyes
experiment push boundaries and learn by
doing I have always been curious about
how things work I can remember when the
lightbulb first went on and I understood
how a car engine operates or building my
first electric motor I was amazed the
first time that I generated electricity
using only the motion of a magnet
science it’s like magic but real
girls are interested in stem it is our
responsibility to give them a positive
early experience physics should be fun
don’t laugh and that wasn’t a joke but
in after-school stem Club that allows
young girls to just explore have fun and
that’s LED and championed by a female
teacher can make a huge difference when
I speak to the females in my courses
about what led them to choose their
major it is almost always a passionate
teacher who had a profound impact on
them teachers influence and teachers
make a difference but let us all be
aware of the messages that we are
sending our young girls before the movie
hidden figures how many of us had heard
the name Catherine Johnson / even aware
of the female african-american
mathematicians who served a vital role
in NASA during the early years of the
u.s. space program did you know that in
1969 the first ever computer science Man
of the Year award was actually given to
a female by the name of Grace Hopper
she was a true pioneer in computer
programming during World War two or
since it began in 1936
did you see the headlines when Miriam
Mert Suhani made history in 2014 as
being the first female to receive the
Fields Medal known as the Nobel Prize of
mathematics we need to stop ignoring and
start celebrating the many achievements
of women in STEM these stories inspire
over the years I have learned that girls
are passionate about social
environmental and health related issues
but without career awareness will most
likely not know how these interests can
translate to a job in stem stem career
days can inform girls about the variety
of occupations available
having a strong knowledge base in STEM
subjects will give girls the opportunity
to access any career path day later
choose math was the foundation that I
needed to excel in physics and when I
later became captivated by one of the
most complex electric circuit systems in
our entire universe the human body
it was my graduate studies and Applied
Physics that allowed me to develop an
updated mathematical model for measuring
the magnetic field of a damaged nerve in
a patient using a less invasive
technique but throughout all my years in
school I never had a female stem mentor
someone I could turn to when I was
feeling intimidated alone or lacking
confidence it was during these times
that I wanted and needed to hear from
another woman in stem about what
motivated her how she overcame
challenges and how she got to where she
is today I can truly understand why so
many capable females fall out of the
stem education pipeline and it breaks my
heart to think how easily my passion for
science and my desire to share it with
all of you could have been forever lost
a new study from the University of
Massachusetts found that 100 percent of
female engineering students remained in
the program after the first year if they
had a female mentor 89 percent continued
with no mentor and only 82 percent
continued with a male stem mentor there
is power in having role models who prove
that female success is possible in a
male-dominated field the representation
of women in STEM is a national workforce
issue
but one that we can begin to address at
the local level
I propose a STEM program for girls in
grades 6 through 8 as part of this
program female stem faculty at colleges
and universities would form a
partnership with the local middle
schools to plan one educational session
on campus each month these experiences
will establish the connection between
education and future careers parents
would be involved with career awareness
and planning events local industry could
provide female speakers who are
practicing stem professionals in the
community who could also provide that
quality mentoring academic decisions
made in middle school can open doors to
stem career paths we can empower young
women through STEM education generations
ago women had very few choices of
occupations today women can do and be
anything choose to compete for the high
demand high-paying stem occupations that
allow you to create design invent and
change our world you gotta have a dream
if you don’t have a dream how you ever
gonna have a dream come true my name is
Brenda I am a college physics teacher I
have the privilege and joy of explaining
the rules of our universe I am a woman
in stem
[Music]
[Applause]
you
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