Mentor girls for STEM

By Eunice Heath

For many years, business leaders, politicians, and feminists have lamented the dearth of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). There is undoubtedly much more work to do in addressing the imbalance, but recent trends, as well as initiatives like this Thursday's Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, represent exciting progress in bringing more women into these high-demand fields.

Eight of Fortune magazine's 10 most powerful women in business work in STEM fields, including Ginni Rometty, chairwoman, CEO, and president of IBM (No. 1) and General Motors CEO Mary Barra (No. 2). And though Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo (No. 3), currently works in consumer products, she earned her undergraduate degree in physics, chemistry, and math.

With STEM stars like these to look up to, young women all over the world have more role models than ever before who can offer guidance and encouragement. These role models and mentors can make a tremendous impact by encouraging young women to explore STEM subjects and consider educations and careers in these fields.

As a young girl, I always enjoyed math and science but assumed I would follow in my mother's footsteps and become a teacher. So when my high school chemistry and math teachers asked me if I had ever thought about studying engineering in college, my first response was, "No."

To be honest, I didn't even know what engineering was or what engineers did; my limited view of "engineering" conjured up an image of a train operator. But the conversation with my teacher that day made a lasting impact on my life.

My teachers challenged me to learn about different engineering professions and the endless ways STEM applies to the products and services that make the world work. They inspired me to pursue engineering at the University of Florida, where I fell in love with the application of math and science, greatly enjoying the process of taking things apart, putting them back together, and programming the right code to make them function properly.

During my junior year, after having decided on a major in industrial and systems engineering, a recruiter challenged me to think outside the box again and consider a STEM career in technical sales and marketing. Nearly 25 years later, I am still with that recruiter's firm, the Dow Chemical Co., where I have served in roles in supply chain, market research, marketing, and government affairs. These diverse experiences have proved to me the value of an engineering degree and broadened my perspective of how STEM fields are embedded in everything we do.

Today, as I lead Dow's efforts in sustainable business, one thing is clear to me:

We need our young people, especially young women, to pursue careers in STEM. Men still dominate the engineering profession; just 14 percent of engineers are women. If we are going to succeed in solving global challenges like clean water, food supplies, and energy needs, we need diverse perspectives at the table making decisions. Women think differently, women manage differently, and women lead differently. Women who come into the profession today have tremendous opportunity to contribute to the future.

Those women are out there, but today's leaders have to do a better job of finding them and encouraging them to consider STEM. Education programs like Project Lead the Way provide students with hands-on, project-based opportunities in STEM subjects and help them develop critical skills as early as kindergarten and all the way through high school.

I believe companies also play an important role. At Dow, our STEM strategy engages our people, our resources, and our expertise to empower educators, inspire students, develop pathways to STEM careers, and collaborate to improve the quality of STEM education - all with the goal of building the workforce of tomorrow.

But programs alone are not enough. Many of our young women love math and science as I did when I was a young girl, but they do not have the role models and mentors to push them to continue pursing those disciplines as a career. Others have never considered the STEM fields, and we must help guide them in a direction they may not know is available to them.

We need to share with our children and students the importance of developing a strong foundation in the STEM studies, and then work to keep them motivated and engaged. It is up to all of us to help our students - especially young women - realize the endless career possibilities that STEM skills will open up for them.