STEM Women

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M A G A Z STEM

Still SupremeExclusive Interview with

Susaye Greene

forWomen

If you could drive a car at the speed of light,and then turned on the head lights...

...would they do anything?

As the life longevity of our students continues to increase, they should expect to have a work span of 50 years. As fast as the world is changing...

...is it fair to say to a 12 year old, “ You need to decide now what career you want for the next 50 years.”

DIVERSITY of STEM SKILLS

“Fortune Favors the Prepared Mind”- Louis Pasteur

Wendy Hamilton / CEO of TechSmith

Growth Oriented Mindset / by Katie Finley

Preparing for my Career / by Edmond R. Renkin

Women Dominate STEM / By Daniella Rendour

Susaye Greene“The STEM in Me” / by Azam Shaghaghi

Advertising / Articles Submissions

STEM for Women is currently seeking state, national and global sponsors. Please contact the publisher for more information.

Every Woman is a STEM Woman

STEM for Women Magazine strives to encourage and support every effort to engage girls and young women grades K-16 to become and remain curious about science, technology, engineering and math.

As women in these fields continue to inspire and innovate, more opportu-nities present themselves for women to take the lead, both on the local level and within global corporations.

STEM for Women Magazine presentsthe worlds finest authors, many of whom are professional women in STEM careers, to inform and inspire. Gender is not a factor in innovation or imagination.

Let us show them the way and provide any needed confidence to achieve the dreams they once thought were unattainable.

Wayne [email protected]

[email protected] Oriented Mindset / by Katie Finley

Susaye Greene“The STEM in Me”

An exclusive interview by Azam Shaghaghi

The science fiction and fantasy genre is an oeuvre of otherworldly and won-drous. The mythic, strange, speculative are not so much a day-to-day occur-rence but a mission statement. The unusual expectation of what would be above the clouds, deep stars, other galaxies and the unknown has always been a refuge of many-many minds.

The 1970s was full of science fiction realities. Star Wars, Apollo 13 moon landing, and other thought provoking stories. The music, art, and politics was also mixed with these greatest histor-ical events that had an inspirational impact. Even the artists and musicians were inspired by the scientific break-throughs of the time. The well-known American singer–songwriter Susaye Greene, best known for being the last official member to join the Motown girl group-

“The Supremes” - remaining in the group during its final years of existence from 1976 to 1977, is one of the artists inspired by science and now is one of the greatest S.T.E.M advocates.

I had a friendly chat with Susaye on her fascination for science and art.

Azam -“When do you remember being first interested/influenced in technology?”

Susaye -“I have always been passionate about film, especially science-related films. I remember as a child thinking; one day, we will go to other planets. It was science fiction that inspired me to do many creative things. I have always felt that anything is possible! Human beings have the ability to make great and impossible things happen. I always believed that science, invention and technology would be the tools to further humankind.”

“I remember watching two films as a child which influenced me greatly, that I have never forgotten. One was about Thomas Alva Edison. It was probably romanticized for the sake of movie-making, but its impact was deeply felt by me. Young Edison knew about someone who needed an operation, who would not survive the journey to the hospital, but there was not enough light for the doctor to operate at the patient’s home. He tried to tell the doctor about an idea he had, but the Dr. chased him away because he was just a teenager.”

“Thomas gathered all of the mirrors in the home around the dining room table and the reflection created enough light in the room for the Dr. to operate and save the patient’s life. That taught me about problem solving in a very concrete way, and I was impressed that regardless of people telling him he was wrong, he pushed ahead” (the engineer-ing method of problem solving).

“The second film was about Alexander Graham Bell inventing the telephone. My mother was big on language and manners. She insisted that I learn to answer the phone correctly, in a man-nerly fashion. When I saw this film, I began to realize the importance of the telephone in our lives. Of course, now, so many people’s lives revolve around their phones. It is the single most used piece of modern technology that affects our lives, our businesses, etc.

A powerful tool, that we have made so much a part of our existence.”

Azam- “What is it about technology that interests you most?”

Susaye - “I love the idea that technology, re-gardless of our profession, gives us the ability to achieve whatever our goals are. Through technology, in the music industry, we are able to create almost anywhere in the world, with the high-est standards of recording, mixing, mastering. From the beginning of a project to the end, we are able through the availability of technology to create new things, to be innovative, to disrupt the status quo. It’s a special realm of freedom. The rules are in our hands to change.”

I have always painted (Arts), since childhood. My fortes were oil and wa-tercolor. But when I moved back to America, after living in England 10 years, I began to look into the possibili-ties of digital art. I bought a digital tab-let and began to paint in Photoshop. I didn’t have a clue, in the beginning, but with the help of the hundreds of artists I know around the world, through the world’s largest art site, Deviantart.com, I became quite proficient and fell deep-ly in love with the techniques.

Young Thomas Edison

Once again, technology made so much more possible for me. The many painters,animators, artists of all kinds, reached out to give me their time and knowl-edge.

They were young and old, famous and not, but extremely generous with what they knew. I cannot imagine my life now without all they taught me. Paint-ing has always been something I was compelled to do. It is a deep part of my creative life. Technology has helped me to create many wonderful projects, and with all of the available Adobe prod-ucts, artists of all kinds can find their place in the world of art and film-making. The results are endlessly gratifying.”

Azam -“What were some of the obstacles that you had to overcome?”

Susaye - “It is an ongoing struggle. Music (especially production) has always been a male-dominated industry. Women in every genre have had to continue to fight for the right to guide their own careers. Production has con-tinued to be male dominated.

Music is everywhere in the world; we all have our ideas about what music is

“Technology has helped me to create..”

Painting by Susaye Greene

or should be. It is each person’s taste that makes music touch their feelings.

It’s totally subjective. We all have a song or songs that are special to us and that even reconnect us to a special time in our lives. I believe women have the same sensibility for music creation and production that men have. It takes a strong overview of recording tech-nique to make great music and good ears (Acoustic Engineering). That is not something that is exclusive to men. I was brought up to believe in myself; trained in many areas, and I had great teachers, in and out of the studio.

For me, the studio is where I feel the most comfortable of all places. Pro Tools (software) has made it possible to bring what I create in my head to frui-tion. I love taking unique sounds, and making them into unique recordings. The technology has made it possible for musicians around the world to create in a state of the art studio, or in a small space in ones’ home.

I am very much about a high standard of technique. Sound quality is extremely important to me, as much as excellent songwriting. It’s all about good com-munication and trusting your instincts about what is appropriate to each song or recording. I have always had great ears, I know what I love and I trust my instincts.”

Azam -“Who was your hero or idol that you admired during your rise?”

Susaye -“My first hero was my sister, Jade, who was the 6th child in America diagnosed with Lupus.

She taught me to be brave and to fight against adversity before she died at 12 years of age.”

“My mother, Viviane Greene of course was my first vocal coach, and my champion in all ways. She was a bril-liant student, graduating from Prairie View College at 17 as valedictorian. She was a classical pianist, a child prodigy, brought up in Nacogdoches,

Texas, by two educators, who along with my father, became some of the first black DJ’s in America. With a Master’s Degree in Music, my mother taught me the value of preparation in ones’ chosen field.”

“I grew up in New York City, and I cannot remember a time when I was not reading. I was encouraged to love books and read voraciously. Many of my first heroes were writers. Shake-speare, Edgar Allen Poe, James Joyce, James Baldwin, George Eliot, aka Mary Ann Evans, Jack Kerouac, Mel Lazarus, James Thurber, Nora Zeale Thurston, Maya Angelou, and countless others. I admired the power of language greatly, and was encouraged to read every-thing!

I have had many heroes and mentors, each for different reasons, but most notably: Dorothy Height, civil rights and women’s activist, who was the

President of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

“Ray Charles was my friend and men-tor until he passed; always generous with advice and counsel, down to earth and so extremely knowledgeable about the show business and the business of life.

I so admired Barbra Streisand as a teenager, growing up in New York. She stood out from the crowd of singers and actors, doing her thing, her way.Albert Einstein and Stevie Wonder. Einstein, whose big brain I have always admired and wished I had got to meet, and Stevie, who truly blessed me with the gift of songwriting. I’ve learned so much from him, I’m still amazed.”

“When we wrote ‘I Can’t Help It’ for Michael Jackson, for his “Off the Wall album”, we had no idea it would be so far-reaching; , that album changed the course of popular music as we know it, and recently celebrated it’s 30 year anniversary with Spike Lee’s documen-tary Michael Jackson: from Motown to Off The Wall.”

“I’ve always had such varied interests, thankfully so; because I have gained inspiration from many people in many fields.”

Dorothy Height

Azam -“Any regrets? What would you do differently?”

Susaye -“There are many things if we look back, that we might do differently. I would, given the chance, have worked in some scientific field of research. Space is an obsession of mine and there is so much that we still do not know about it. That challenges my mind, though I know I was destined to be a part of music. I am greatly blessed, having been given so many terrific opportunities. I cannot truly complain or regret. That is a wasted effort to me.

“I would, given the chance, have worked in some scientific field of research.”

Azam -“Is it what you imagined it would be?”

Susaye -“Yes, it is very gratifying. When you write or sing a song, you do not know the far-reaching outcome: how it will affect others’ lives. Many people have said through the years, “Your songs have carried me through hard times, or lifted me up.” “I got married to that song,” or “it’s my favourite of all time”. That is a great feeling, and a rare blessing.”

Azam -“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

Susaye -“Within the next few years, I will be developing extraordinary talent from around the world, as part of the Peace Prize Organization and the Simple Reminders Network. I am their National Director for Film, Music, and the Arts. I am consciously seeking fine talent in all of those areas and will help to bring awareness to the world about the possibilities for young people in these fields.”

Azam - “Any words of wisdom for young wom-en considering a career in technology?”

Susaye -“I want young women to prepare, pre-pare, prepare. Take some music classes, if music is your area. Just like engi-neering needs preparation and update to the availability of new technology, whichever field you are in that requires knowledge, you must study, be men-tored, or you must find a place to gain the knowledge it takes to succeed.

“Trust your instincts! We were given them for a reason. Know that you are worthy of every great thing in life.”

Love from me, always. Susaye

There are thousands of young women around the world, I am sure, who are perfectly capable to become active in the STEM fields.

I ask you to step out, dare, be bold and brave and to go where you see your future taking place. If you wish to be a rocket scientist, then you must go for it. I want you to have big dreams, and then, bigger dreams. After all, if we are reaching for the stars, we might as well reach as far beyond what is known to be possible. This is a time when women are coming into their own, around the world. Last year, as advisor to Team Plan B Canada, in the Google Lunar X Prize, I saw people of every nation reaching for their dream of placing a privately fund-ed rover on the moon. What a thrill-ing prospect! People of all ages, men and women using engineering, math, sciences, technology and their huge dreams to reach into space.

I’ve met scientists, astronauts, generals, engineers, mathematicians; all with bravery and gusto for life. I want every-one to remember we live in extraor-dinary times. It is not enough to just dream. We must do extraordinary things, and live extraordinary lives. We owe that to ourselves and to our futures.”

Editors note on the Supremes:

The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. The Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown’s acts and are, to date, America’s most successful vocal group with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

At their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivaled the Beatles in world-wide popularity, and it is said that their success made it possible for future African American R&B and soul musi-cians to find mainstream success.

During the mid-1960s, the Supremes achieved mainstream success with Ross as lead singer. In 1967, Motown pres-ident Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes. After 1972, the group members continued to change; Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne, and Susaye Greene all became members of the group during the mid-1970s. The Supremes disbanded in 1977 after 18 years.

“America’s most successful vocal group with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.”

Curiosity

Women Dominate the Nation’s Largest STEM FieldsDominateDominate

Women Dominate the Nation’s Largest STEM Fields

It is important to bring awareness to the accurate definition of “STEM Careers” with a very specific definition and explanation. Two of the world’s most influential STEM careers and highest employment industries seem to remain overlooked in the traditionalSTEM list, but without a doubt are seriously STEM in practice and perfor-mance.

The first is within the medical fields which are diverse and broad, but we’ll start with nursing (LPN to MSN regis-tered nurses). Of the 3.2 million nurses in America, 90% are women. That is a 10-1 ratio women to men. Few indus-tries see those ratios or such a wide gender gap. This ratio does vary from state to state slightly, but the domi-nance of women in nursing STEM careers is dramatic.

When we look at physicians (all fields combined) we see women occupying just over 50% of America’s doctor pop-ulation, about a 2-1 ratio of men to women. Considering the education and commitment necessary to become a

physician, women have a strong pres-ence once again in a powerful STEM field.

l Currently, 46% of all physicians in training and almost half of all medical students are women, according to an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). l Over 60% of trainees in derma-tology are women, and the number of female general surgery trainees is now at 38% and two-thirds of black appli-cants to medical school are women. In the United States, women constitute approximately 80% of the veterinary college student population.

Women physicians are on the rise and with good reason. Patients treated by women are less likely to die of what ails them and less likely to have to come back to the hospital for more treat-ment, researchers reported recently. If all doctors performed as well as the female physicians in the study, it would save 32,000 lives every year according to the team at the Harvard School of Public Health.

By Daniella Rendour

This is not an article on gender pay in-equality which remains a problem, but one of pure numbers, gender perfor-mance, growth and general presence in the STEM community. It is also not an article on injustice, discrimination or any of the other inequalities between women and men, but rather a state-ment of STEM fact that women in huge STEM fields are a force to be reckoned with. If one were to argue that nurses and physicians are not STEM careers it is time for them to crack the books and learn how intense these STEM skills occupations really are.

A decade of science (def: the system-atic accumulation of knowledge) goes into becoming a doctor and from 2 to 8 years for different levels of nursing.Every single woman in medicine uses a wide and complex array of technology applications daily from simple computer use to robotic surgery.

The engineering method (a decision making and problem solving series of steps) is a critical part of daily med-icine. All of the possible diagnosis choices available make this decision making process (engineering) a matter of life and death. Noting the previous conversation about the quality of care women in medicine provide, they may be better engineers than they know.

The use of mathematics hardly needs explaining as medicine dosing calcula-tions, body physiology read-outs, body weight and age considerations, pre-existing conditions and other medical concerns to name only a few make accurate math both in metrics and Imperial another life and death deci-sion.

Americans experience about 12 million diagnostic errors a year, an Institute of Medicine report revealed. Those are engineering errors; incorrect decision making that takes over 98,000 Ameri-can lives annually.

Unbeknownst to them, most students are using this skill daily too.

Science by definition applies to every subject; ‘the systematic accumulation of knowledge’. “The science of learning”.

Technology applications need little explanation if you could think this one through for me.

Math applications vary depending on the subject, but non-the-less are neces-sary. From percentages and basic math to algebra (yes, algebra), calculus and most importantly, statistics, all teachers and students use math daily.

When it comes to arguing over women in STEM, I guess you’re either a glass half full or glass half empty person. As I consider just these two examples of powerful and life altering STEM careers and the women who not only dominate them but excel at them, I find myself grateful on a dozen levels for the contributions and influence of our STEM women.

To say like so many before, that “women are not entering STEM fields” is just ignorance of what STEM really is and how women are impacting our nation’s most numerically employed industries.

Now on to a second area of female STEM dominance…….teaching.

l Nearly 2.4 million women in the U.S. teach public school full time. That is over 76% of public school teachers; the most influential adults in the lives of our future workforce and economy and probably our most valuable STEM resource.

Yes, teaching, no matter the subject, is a STEM career incorporating all of the STEM and STEAM skills. On a daily bases educators solve problems in class and make decisions using the engi-neering method to find the best out-come for the circumstances. This goes for English teachers, the football coach, the History teacher and of course the Science and Math educators.

“What should I do

for the next 50 years

of my life?”

Preparing for my Career

Young women and men are more than capable of pursuing any career path they wish, provided a few things are in place:

- Necessary long-term motivation to complete the quest.

- Financial access for higher education if that is required.

- Career availability and placement in their chosen career.

We see an ever increasing number of college graduates who cannot find a job in their degree field, forcing them to work in areas they are certainly over qualified for and less than fulfilling.

Asking a 10 year old what they want to do in life may sound logical, but in fact it’s totally unrealistic. By the time they graduate from high school, their world will be a very different place; current jobs will not longer exist, new jobs that we cannot even imagine will emerge, technology will be light years ahead of where it is now, curriculum and highereducation will be very different....and as is normal for every child and teen, their interests will change a dozen times or more.

So what is the solution?

As it has been throughout history, only time will tell, but we do have the power to “prepare” for probable futures.

Since it is suggested that our students will have an average of 3 different careers in the course of their work life, the most prudent course of action is to be as diverse and well prepared as possible in your skill set. As with finances, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

STEM skills and soft skills fill a vital role when considering diverse preparation for any career that comes our way. The decision making and problem solving of the Engineering Method will serve them well in life and work as they already use it without even knowing it.

They will adapt to new technology as a way of life as they do now, and those unforeseen technologies will be learned maybe “on the job” or in short-term preparation for a pending job opportunity.

Science as it is defined being the “system-atic accumulation of knowledge” is hap-pening now as they attend school and will continue as a lifestyle at home and work.

by Edmond R. Renkin

Mathematics, either basic or advanced, will become evident in time and be varied depending on student interest, curriculum requirements or in prepa-ration for that dream career students are willing to make a sacrifice for.

With the thought of multiple careers and the need for Creative (Arts) skills, if you didn’t get it in middle school or high school or even college, and you’re serious and really want it, you can go back to school or online and learn what you need. This is certainly one of the valuable benefits of the web and dis-tance learning on your own time.

As we look at how few scientists and different kinds of medical jobs exist, we ask the question, “What is everyone doing for a living?”

Of the 50 million students in American schools this year, all will ask at some point, “What job should I do?”

STEM occupations as some would define them account for 5.8 percent of all jobs in the U.S. economy, but STEM skills account for 100% of U.S. jobs.

For a moment, let’s put aside dreams and wishes and take a hard look at what most Americans do for work every day. Since not every student can be an astronaut, doctor or race car driver, what will our students do? Scientists and Engineers make up about 5% of the workforce so students and their parents should consider how to best prepare for every job scenario and the skills necessary.

For those dreaming of being a sports star, we have only about 18,000 profes-sional athletes in the U.S. with an average career span of about 5 years. The expected number of high school graduates this year is about 3.5 million.

I truly believe that the 5.8% STEM occupation number is in error. I cannot find out how the Bureau of Statistics comes up with that percentage other than they have a random, narrow and inaccurate definition of STEM occupa-tions. The numbers just don’t add up. Is it possible the government is wrong? It wouldn’t be the first time.

Is your career defined by the degree you received (if you have one) or by what you actually do everyday at work?

“If my degree is in accounting, but I work full time as an auto mechanic, am I an accountant or an auto mechanic?”

“If I have a degree in biology but work full time as a journalist am I a biologist or a journalist?”

I suggest that we identify STEM careers and occupations based on the daily use of the systematic accumula-tion of knowledge, the use of technol-ogy and its practical application, our daily problem solving and decision making per the engineering method and a level of math, from physicist to chef.

If we adopt this suggestion, virtually every career is a STEM career in prac-tice, meaning that STEM skills should be important to every student and employer regardless of whether you attend a STEM school or chase a STEM degree. With 52% of college STEM degree students dropping out in the U.S., you just have to ask questions about perception and preparation.

Is this an unreasonable train of thought or illogical?

As educators we are tasked with pre-paring students in as round a way as possible to be productive members of our society. We are also required to fulfill curriculum requirements for standardized testing (whether we agree with their value or not) because some-one in their elected wisdom decided it was important. This includes filling jobs that “need” done, maintaining the quality of American life, providing for our families and as is our right, the pursuit of happiness.

Imagine a world with no trash collec-tors, no sewage treatment plant work-ers, no housekeepers in our 50,000 hotels to clean the toilets and wash laundry, stand on the assembly line all day doing the exact same thing….in short, any of necessary jobs we can’t live without but would rather not do.

Retail sales tops the list of most common jobs in America

A recent survey asked people if they were happy to go to work in the morn-ing. The answer was a rather emphatic “no.” Monster.com and market research company GfK conducted the study, which revealed that only 53% of Amer-icans actively enjoy their jobs, and 15% actively dislike them. The rest were just unfulfilled in their work.

“Fortune Favors the Prepared Mind”- Louis Pasteur

There are roughly 126 million employed Americans and here is what most of them do every day.

Here are the top 10 most common jobs in America:

1. Retail Salespersons

- Total number of jobs: 4.5 million

2. Cashiers


3. Food preparation / serving workers


4. Office clerks


5. Registered nurses


6. Waiters and waitresses


7. Customer service representatives


8. Hand laborers and material movers


9. Secretaries /administrative assistants


10. Janitors and cleaners


Encouraging news is that each of these career fields, even if they are not con-sidered glamorous, requires diverse levels of STEM skills and soft skills.

That being said, teaching and integrat-ing STEM into the classroom of every subject is not wasted on anyone. All students will benefit from a better understanding of what STEM skills “really” are and why they are import-ant regardless of their career choice.

Although the Tech Industry as a whole has high employment numbers, it’s a bit deceiving in its definition cover dozens of different industries not normally thought of as “technical”.

High technology, often abbreviated to high tech (adjective forms high-tech-nology, high-tech or hi-tech) is tech-nology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology available (for the moment).

As of the onset of the 21st century, products considered high tech are often those that incorporate advanced computer electronics. However, there is no specific class of technology that is high tech—the definition shifts and evolves over time—so products hyped as high-tech in the past may now be considered to be everyday or outdated technology. One thing our students can count on is.......change.

GrowthOriented Mindset

by Katie Finley

Contrary to popular belief, high achievement isn’t merely a product of talent and ability.

In fact, our internal beliefs about our own abilities, skills, and potential actually fuel behavioral patterns and predict success. Leading Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck argues that the pivotal quality separating successful people from their unsuc-cessful counterparts is whether they think their intelligence can be developed versus believing it is fixed.

A growth mindset has a sizable impact on business efficacy and is a determi-nant of successful athletes. It is a crit-ical factor separating high achieving students from those who struggle in the classroom, and is thus often dis-cussed in the context of its applications for education. A growth mindset has been repeatedly identified as a robust predictor of academic success; it in-creases students’ motivation, grades, achievement, and test scores.

The good news: a growth mindset can be taught. Dweck found that when students undertook an intervention to move them from a fixed to growth mindset, they immediately began per-forming at higher levels and achieved greater academic success. In fact, strat-egies and teaching methods geared toward cultivating

“There is no relation between students’ abilities or intelligence and the devel-opment of mastery-oriented qualities. Some of the very brightest students avoid challenges, dislike effort, and wilt in the face of difficulty. And some of the less bright students are real go-getters, thriving on challenge, persisting intense-ly when things get difficult, and accom-plishing more than you expected.

This is something that really intrigued me from the beginning. It shows that being mastery-oriented is about having the right mind-set. It is not about how smart you are. However, having the mastery-oriented mind-set will help stu-dents become more able over time.”--Carol Dweck

A person with a fixed mindset believes that his or her intelligence is static, while a person with a growth mindset believes that his or her intel-ligence can be developed. The latter group is thus more likely to embrace challenges, persist in the face of set-backs, and see effort as a natural path to mastery. The distinction between these two extremes has tremendous implications for motivation, produc-tivity, and confidence; in the pursuit of success, mindset is everything.

this mindset in students are gaining widespread traction. It is accordingly well-documented that the most successful countries in the world base schooling on growth mindset messages and beliefs.

Integrating growth mindset-oriented learning processes into the classroom, then, can have a beneficial impact on learning. Let’s talk about how to do it.

Strategies for helping your girls to develop a growth mindset

1. Think about setting achievable micro-goals to encourage students’ consistent, incremental progress. Small wins repeated over time can lead to a growth mindset (and increased confidence!).

2. When students succeed, praise their efforts and strategies as opposed to their intelligence. Praise for intelli-gence can actually undermine moti-vation and performance, as children praised for intelligence increasingly view intelligence as a fixed trait; in the face of failure, these children will display less task persistence, less task enjoyment, and overall worse perfor-mance.

3. Help students focus on and value the process of learning. Without this emphasis on learning, students will of-ten base self perceptions of intelligence and worth to grades received, promot-ing a fixed mindset. While grades are important, the value of learning should be prioritized.

4. Design classroom activities that involve cooperative--rather than com-petitive or individualistic--work. Re-search suggests that students are more motivated and successful when work-ing in groups. Students feel a sense of responsibility to the group to try their best, and thus will experience the pos-itive feedback loop of effort and suc-cess, encouraging the development of a growth mindset.

Are there other strategies you use in the classroom to help your students develop a growth mindset? Which do you find most effective?

Wendy HamiltonCEO of TechSmith

My father had a very strong statedvalue of STEM education. He steered me there – starting at an early age as he believed it was the best way to developyoung brains, and then later in my teenage years as he believed it was the best way to ensure job security and financial independence.

My father was one of the first genera-tions of computer scientists. He biked from high school to the local univer-sity to ‘play’ on the massive toy of a computer. But I was also fortunate to have many other people in my life who gave me the confidence to take on hard challenges – so many young women don’t pursue STEM or STEAM careers because they don’t have that kind of support.

Technology spurs the imagination – we don’t know how it might evolve, how it might yet impact our society. Will we be able to help people with spinal trauma walk again, can we clean our oceans, will we eliminate hunger? It’s an industry with endless possibilities with ways to be part of the greater good. That dynamism and potential impact is exciting, intriguing.

Obstacles

I was fortunate to have many people in my family, education and career that believed in me and gave me con-fidence, support and opportunity. But there is uncertainty that hangs over you – uncertainty of whether a certain career is right for you simply because you don’t see anyone doing it who looks like you. It’s a kind of a mental obstacle perhaps rather than a real one.

I graduated from Haverford College with a BS in Economics – which I recognize is not always considered a STEM degree. My specialization though was quantitative analysis, so mostly math. Then when I graduated I attended corporate-sponsored boot camp in Cobol programming (it was 1990) and programmed the early part of my career.

My father co-founded TechSmith in 1987, but I was happy with my career

in Life Sciences and never anticipat-ed working there. As it turned out, I started wanting a career change that let me get closer to tech and closer to the customer, just about the time he was looking to retire.

Regrets?

What I would say is that I was extremelyloyal to employers – I only quit an employer twice in my entire career in 27 years. While I value that in myself, looking back I probably let myself get too comfortable in some roles. If I had been stretching myself then I would have been more active in job searching.

I love my job, I love the TechSmith team, love the customers we serve, and love the impact of the digital media industry on the world’s ability to com-municate and inform.

Do it! Do it! Do it! Whatever doubts you have about your ability to do it push aside! Don’t let fear of failing stop you from pursuing a career where you can make such a great impact to the world. And surround yourself with family, spouse, friends, mentors – with those who will support you not discourage you.

Words of wisdom to young women

TechSmith Corporation provides prac-tical business and academic software products that can dramatically change how people communicate and collabo-rate. TechSmith enables users to work more effectively wherever they may be, and ensures that the process of creating, sharing and collaborating around content is simple and intuitive so that others can learn from their knowledge.

A great STEM career is NOT an illusion

STEM for Women is.........Global

STEM Women

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Transcript of STEM Women