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AIST Represented at the Society of Women Engineers 2013 Capitol Hill Day
04/09/2013 - The Society of Women Engineers recently held its 2013 Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C., focusing on the importance of diversity and inclusion fueling innovation in STEM fields. AIST was one of 35 co-sponsoring organizations and was represented at the event by four AIST members and one AIST staff member.
On 20-21 March 2013, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) held its 2013 Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C., focusing on the importance of diversity and inclusion fueling innovation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. AIST was one of 35 co-sponsoring organizations of the day and a half-long conference. Representing AIST at the event were four AIST members and one AIST staff member.
The core message of the Capitol Hill Day was to educate Congressional members and staff about how a commitment to attaining a diverse and inclusive STEM workforce will help maintain U.S. competitiveness through innovation. Attendees were coached on how to approach Congressional visits and on key talking points on legislation and funding critical to STEM fields.
Conference speakers highlighted the fact that while women make up roughly half of the U.S. workforce, in 2011, only 13.6% of U.S. engineers and architects were women, and in 2010, minorities made up less than 24% of U.S. engineers. Leveraging the diverse U.S. population is one of the country’s unique advantages in global competition; a truly diverse workforce will fuel increased innovation when it takes advantage of the variety of approaches and perspectives offered by diversity, SWE representatives said.
Over the next decade, the U.S. will need to fill over 1 million STEM positions, Pam Hurt, industry manage-WFD at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, told conference attendees. Women are an untapped source for manufacturing, she said, and manufacturers at all levels need to reach out to women to tap this talent.
Although the country is currently operating under tight budget constraints, federally funded research can help solve the nation’s biggest challenges, and research and education are inextricably linked, SWE president Alyse Stofer noted.
As engineers, “you are in a unique position to communicate the value of a diverse workforce, federally funded research and STEM education,” said Erin Cadwalader, Ph.D. and Phoebe S. Leboy Public Policy Fellow at the Association for Women in Science.
Representing AIST at the event were (left to right in photo): Laura Miller, industry news editor, AIST; Erica Huntley, senior associate, ENVIRON; Jill Foster, development chemist, Quaker Chemical Corp.; Gilma Saravia, director, human resources, U. S. Steel; and Claire Larsen, development chemist, Quaker Chemical Corp.
On the second day of the event, attendees formed small groups with participants from their same state and met with Congressional members and representatives from their respective states to advocate for continuing and furthering funding for STEM education and research.
“All of the visits went very well. [The representatives] listened to what we had to say, and seemed to be in full support of the need to continue to federally fund programs that mentor and encourage young women and under-represented minorities,” said Ms. Foster.
“Knowing that the iron and steel industry has very few women and minorities, I was honored to represent AIST as a woman who works in this field,” commented Ms. Huntley. “I feel our group of women provided a unique face to a historically homogenous industry.”
