Women in Technology Sharing Online (WitsOn) is trying to bring girl talk into a man’s world.
WitsOn, a six-week pilot program starting Monday, pairs young women with mentors working in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
The program aims to increase student participation in STEM fields according to Phillip Soffer, vice president of operations for WitsOn, said. He said that women might even find possible jobs by connecting and networking with their mentors.
Mae C. Jemison, the first black female astronaut, and Padmasree Warrior, Cisco’s chief technology officer, are among the lead mentors.
At Cal State Long Beach, men typically outnumber women in the STEM fields.
In fall 2010, CSULB had 488 freshmen engineering majors, 82 of which were women, according to the CSULB website. In fall 2005, there were 321 freshmen engineering majors, 40 of which were women.
Kriska Parda, a graduate student in biology, said that she noticed the gaping ratio between the sexes in her classes.
“In [biology], there are more women than men; this vastly changes once I get chemistry, bio-chemistry, physics or math,” Parda said.
Tiffany Do, a junior bio-chemistry major, said she is not surprised by the lack of women studying engineering. She said to attempt to go into a field where women are clearly outnumbered can be intimidating and that she wished there was a program like WitsOn on campus.
“Getting as much advice helps, especially coming from expert women who have already walked in my shoes,” Do said.
According to Houng-Wei Tsai, an assistant professor in biological sciences, there are multiple factors, including bias and incorrect information, holding women back from the field.
“When women combine career with trying to start other ventures, such as families,” he said. “Social expectation tells them to put their career on hold or stop it altogether. Men don’t fall under this expectation.”