Several San Jose State community members expressed feelings of intimidation and isolation as women in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) careers.
Monica Noori-Saghar, Fall 2021 computer science alumna, recounted when she was in her first major course and was surrounded by all male peers.
“Many people at the beginning and throughout dropped and soon realized that I was the only girl in that class left among 10 male students,” Noori-Saghar said in a Zoom call. “That was such an overwhelming feeling.”
She said she wasn’t sure if it was gender bias but throughout that semester, no one wanted to be her partner in group work.
“That had its own psychological effects on my learning in that class,” Noori-Saghar said.
Samantha Bowman, biology senior with a concentration in forensic science, said she had similar experiences.
“In my physics labs for example, there were maybe three women in the class and anytime we would split up for group work in a male dominated class, there was always a tendency to talk over me,” Bowman said in a Zoom call.
She feels her male peers have also singled her out during group work several times.
“I could be doing great in the entire lab but the minute I made one mistake, that’s when all the males in the group would really blast that out loud and it was so frustrating to have that happen,” Bowman said.
Women make up half of those employed in STEM jobs, slightly higher than their share in the overall workforce, which is about 47%. Women's representation among the six STEM occupational clusters, including health-related, life science, math, physical science, computer and engineering jobs hasn’t changed markedly since 2016, according to an April 1, 2021 Pew Research Center article.
Computer science professor Rula Khayrallah said women should not be intimidated because she believes they belong in these careers as much as anyone.
“Just because you see male students, usually they act confidently whether or not they know the [subject] and [women] tend to be intimidated by that and they think they don’t belong [in STEM fields] but that’s absolutely not true. They do,” Khayrallah said in a Zoom call. “They can do it. They can thrive. They can excel in this, so don’t be intimidated.”
She said students, especially women, must make connections because it’s difficult to succeed if they feel excluded.
“Make connections with your peers in the computer science department or in other clubs. Any kind of connections you make is going to help you through, as well as with professors,” Khayrallah said. “Professors are there to teach you . . . all these connections can turn out to be useful later.”
Noori-Saghar said there were more females in her upper division computer engineering courses, adding that the representation made her feel more included.
She said as any STEM major in itself is difficult, it’s really important that women are supported.
Women account for about 25% of those working in computer occupations. The share of women in this fast-growing occupation cluster declined from 2000-16 and has remained stable since, according to the Pew Research Center article.
Women earned about 85% of bachelor's degrees in health-related fields, 22% in engineering and 19% in computer science as of 2018, according to the Pew Research Center article.
Noori-Saghar added that it's necessary to have a positive uplifting system that allows women to voice their concerns about problems and their experience as STEM minorities.
“If you’re the only one and you’re feeling the odd one out and not feeling as heard, when there are other women around you feel much more comfortable and confident,” she said.
Noori-Saghar said students shouldn’t predominantly study alone and join clubs to make friends and connections.
“I wouldn’t have made it and be where I am today without all the help,” she said.
Bowman agreed that there is a “better camaraderie if there are women in the group.”
She said “representation in all forms” is important because seeing women in the science field on TV shows including Naval Criminal Investigative Series (NCIS), an investigative forensics science show, inspired her choice in major.
“If the media’s even willing to portray that women can do it, then certainly in real life I can do it,” Bowman said. “If someone wants to say you can’t handle a biology or a physics class, then almost use it as a motivation to show them that you actually can.”
SJSU biology professor Jessica Castillo-Vardaro said as a Hispanic role model to women STEM students, there’s a “big responsibility and honor” and she understands their struggles because she was once in their shoes.
“It was obvious to me just how students responded, in particular how Latinos responded and many came up to me saying ‘I have never seen a Latino professor in a science class before, you make me think that I can do it,’ and so, I mean, that’s very powerful,” Castillo-Vardaro said in a Zoom call.
She said finding a community will help students navigate the start of their career journey.
“Find people at your stage to go through it with you and find people that have already done it to share their experience,” Castillo-Vardaro said.
