Careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) used to carry a “geeky” stigma. Now, STEM is part of our everyday experiences and with employment in these fields growing at a faster rate than non-STEM employment, an understanding of STEM principles is becoming increasingly useful.
Today’s STEM team members are engineers, data scientists, marketers and designers who collaborate to build products and services that are changing the way we work and live. Yet STEM fields are experiencing a serious labour shortage, particularly among women. Fewer than 3 out of every 10 IT workers are women.
On International Women’s Day, Dell celebrates women in STEM. We enthusiastically continue to support STEM education with the aim of encouraging more girls to engage with technology and to promote an understanding that STEM unlocks a multitude of career opportunities beyond the traditional “geek” roles of the past.
Dell recently sponsored the I Wish conference in Ireland where more than 2,000 young women gathered to hear about career opportunities in STEM from technology companies around the globe.
Several women with STEM roles at Dell were featured:
“IoT is about the way people and things are going to change our lives forever – my job is challenging and more fun than I ever knew possible.”
Christine Frank, senior consultant in Dell Internet of Things (IoT), works with deep sea fishermen, wineries, oil and gas, and hotels to explore embedding technology into products/services to remain on the cutting edge of smart technology in their respective industries.
“I joined Dell as an intern in 2012. I love how fast-paced and forward looking Dell is and how they are promoting women engineers – it’s very motivating.”
Sinem Kockan is a Senior Engineering Technologist who studies industry trends to predict and advise on what kind of technology Dell should implement in the PCs and tablets of the future.
“After doing an internship at Dell, I knew that this was the company for me. I am always learning and developing here.”
Joanne Mortell went from intern to Global Product Data Manager, where she combines marketing with data analysis to better support customers for products across dell.com.
Gender differences in STEM fields begin in student choices as young as 15 years old. Dell is driving community programs to increase girls’ awareness of and interest in STEM. Through our global “IT is not just for Geeks” program, our Wise ERG visits schools to talk to students about technology careers. Various regional programs also support the cause including WI-Filles in France, one of 15 projects supported by the French President, and Girlstart and Girl Scouts in the United States.
Dell team members are passionate about actively encouraging girls into STEM. Supriya Bansal, a Software Engineer, spends a couple of hours every Sunday teaching kids the basics of coding through a partnership with the local chapter of the Women Who Code organization.
Empowering women to pursue STEM is a global issue and recent trends such as #womeninSTEM , #ilooklikeanengineer and #womeninTech highlight the importance of encouraging women to pursue STEM careers. We are making strides but more help is needed. In honour of International Women’s Day, how will you support and encourage women and girls to consider STEM careers?