What a wonderful event on Breaking the Glass Ceilings in STEM at the Broad Institute on Monday. We’ve got great insights from all the panelists and keynote speaker Karen Panetta. Special thanks to Joe Hartman, Dean of Engineering at UMass Lowell for generously sponsoring the event. A BIG THANKS to Miriam Margala for her help in organizing this event.
See some of the pictures from the event on our Facebook page.
Register at: http://delafemme-stem.eventbrite.com
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Breaking the Glass Ceiling in STEM Disciplines
Why are there still so few women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields? Why do high school girls shy away from pursuing STEM majors? Research has shown clear evidence of bias against women in STEM, and the stereotype of being labeled as nerdy or unattractive persists.
The truth is women are missing out on promising, fulfilling and lucrative careers that men have enjoyed for decades.
If you are currently working in STEM related fields or are considering this as a career, join us for an interactive panel on Monday, November 9, 2015, 6 pm, at the Broad Institute. Our keynote speaker, Dr. Karen Panetta, Associate Dean for Graduate Education at Tufts University, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering will moderate a rock star panel of talented young women engineers in a range of disciplines including electrical, chemical, and mechanical engineering, computer science, and biology at UMass Lowell.
Panelists include Rajia Abdelaziz, Brittany Decker, Marcelle Durrenberger, Anne Faber, Erin Graceffa, Cassie Hailson, and Amy Tibbetts.
The panel also features Lauren Celano, an accomplished entrepreneur and CEO/Founder of Propel Careers, a Boston-based life science search and career development firm.
The panel will discuss the opportunities in STEM fields, and different strategies on how to overcome gender bias and stereotypes. In addition, the event is a great networking opportunity.
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Dr. Karen Panetta is Associate Dean for Graduate Education at Tufts University, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Director of the Simulation Research Laboratory. She has received several awards for outstanding teaching and mentoring as well as for creative curriculum development and outreach activities. In 2011, President Obama awarded her the nation’s highest award for Engineering, Science and Mathematics Education and Mentoring. Her numerous awards include, but are not limited to, the 2010 Norm Augustine Award from the National Academies of Engineering and Science, American Association of Engineering Societies, the 2011 Women of Vision Award from the Anita Borg Institute, the 2013 IEEE Ethical Practices Award, the 2013 New England Engineers Week Leadership Award, and the 2011 Harriet B. Rigas Award for outstanding female Educator.
As the founder of the International Nerd Girls Program, Dr. Karen Panetta has conducted engineering outreach activities to over 85,000 children, parents, and educators. She co-founded the first Tufts University School of Engineering start-up company, BA Logix, Inc. based on her own intellectual property. Dr. Panetta designed the App-E-Feat humanitarian challenge for engineers for the Clinton Global Initiative and hosted the web show, “Ask Dr. Karen”, which answers questions from students, parents, and educators from around the world about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Because of her intellectual prowess, Dr. Karen Panetta was the first woman engineer granted tenure in the Tufts University School of Engineering.
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Lauren Celano is the co-founder and CEO of Propel Career, a life science search and career development firm focused on connecting talented individuals with entrepreneurial life sciences companies. Propel works with current leaders and actively cultivates future leaders through full time placement, internships, mentoring, career coaching, and networking. Prior to Propel Careers, Lauren was a senior account manager for SNBL USA where she worked with emerging biotech companies in Europe, Asia, and the US to help characterize and advance their drug molecules. Prior to SNBL USA, she held business development positions with Aptuit and Quintiles, where she focused on IND enabling studies to advance therapeutics from discovery into the clinic. She has a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Gettysburg College and an MBA with a focus in the health sector and entrepreneurship from Boston University.
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The panel is co-sponsored by the Francis College of Engineering at University of Massachusetts Lowell.
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Register at: http://delafemme-stem.eventbrite.com
Thursday, May 7: Can You Work And Have A Life?
Recently, the book Lean-In challenged women to be more assertive in their workplaces in order to better able to climb the ladder of success. However, through blogs and twitters, thousands of women have responded with compelling reasons why this is counter-productive to a woman’s well-being, and instead offered the prescription to reject male patterns of power-over with an ethic of power-with. Others noted the importance of focusing on changing public policies and corporate practices that would give both women and men more choices about work-life balance throughout the life course. We are excited to have Professor Paula Rayman, author of Beyond the Bottom Line: The Search for Dignity at Work, a world renowned scholar and Senior Fulbright Award recipient, who will lead a conversation on the work-life equation.
Date/Time: Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 6 PM
Location: The Broad Institute (Olympus Room), Kendall Sq, Cambridge, MA
Dinner and drinks will be provided.
Register at Eventbrite: Registration is required, sign-in upon arrival.
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Paula Rayman, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is Director of the Middle East Center for Peace, Development, and Culture and Executive Director of the public sector hub of the Women in Public Service Project. She was the Founding Director of the Peace and Conflict Studies program at UMass Lowell.
Dr. Rayman is a Senior Fulbright Award recipient. In 2014, she led trainings on non-violent social action for a coalition of Israeli and Palestinian women leaders and spoke at the United States Embassy in Israel as part of the Distinguished American Speaker series. Her new project with United States Institute of Peace is focused on the implementation of United Nation Resolution 1325 and development of National Action Plans to combat violence against women.
Dr. Rayman is also a nationally recognized scholar in the field of work organization, labor, and public policy. She is the author of Beyond the Bottom Line: The Search for Dignity at Work. She was the founding director of the Radcliffe Public Policy Center at Harvard University. Rayman has also worked extensively on issues related to women and science. She was the Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundations Project Women and Techforce and WORKING WISE (Women in Science and Engineering). She is the co-author of The Equity Equation. She was the recipient of the Pathways for Women in Sciences award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Professor Rayman has been recognized for her leadership on advancing women in STEM from many organizations including the Weizmann Institute, Israel, the 1995 United Nations Woman and Science Tent, Beijing, and the Council on Competitiveness, Washington D.C.
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Selected Publications:
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Women Accelerators is a component fund of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We are passionate about promoting the advancement of women and bridging the gender gap.
