Written by: Richard Miksi, Madison O’Brien, Elena Rouse
Kayla Hamilton, who is a PhD student in electrical engineering and the CAV lead for UA EcoCAR, decided to jump in the driver’s seat for the Women in STEM initiative when she became a graduate lead on the team and realized that she was the only female lead among her peers. Since then, she has worked hard not only to recruit new members but to emphasize the importance of the roles of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“The Women is STEM initiative is important for the retention of our female team members, as well as it’s a great talking point when recruiting new members. I know it can be a little intimidating when you walk into the lab and you’re the only woman there, so being able to show that we have a group of women working and networking together within the team is a great way to encourage new members to join and stick around,” says Hamilton.
Hosting Events
Ever since The University of Alabama moved back from online to in-person classes, Hamilton has held several Women in STEM meetings, and she only hopes for the numbers of meetings and attendees to go up. The themes of these meetings usually vary between the more serious informative and educational topics, and some more informal social events.
“Our first event to kick off the semester was a social event, where everyone had the opportunity to get to know each other and get some engagement early on. Then we watched a movie together and just had some fun with the team,” Hamilton continued. “Later in the semester we had a LinkedIn profile building workshop, where we partnered with Alpha Omega Epsilon, the STEM sorority on campus. We had some women from their organization joining us, so this event was a great opportunity to make some new connections while building a professional online profile.”
From the Members’ Perspective
“The first time I heard I could be an engineer was in high school,” says Alexis Dryjanski, a freshman mechanical engineering student and member of the PSI team on UA EcoCAR. It’s why the Women in STEM initiative is so important: there has to be that push early on to get more women involved. “There’s a little bit of a stigma that STEM is geared towards men. This can drive women away, and the environment can be daunting. I’ve been in a physics classroom with 32 people where I was the only woman, so that is not fun, but it’s worth it. You are just as competent as any of the other guys. The more women there are, the more support there is,” says Cristina Vasel, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in aerospace engineering, while also being a member of the PSI subteam.
Alexis and Cristina have both attended some of EcoCAR’s Women in STEM events, and they talked about how much they loved the opportunities to learn new skills, such as building a LinkedIn profile, or connecting with other female STEM students, which made them feel more welcome and empowered. “I feel like I’ve received a lot of support, not because I’m a woman, but despite being a woman, I have all of the opportunities as everyone else,” Vasel added. This is what Women in STEM strives for. Giving everyone the same opportunities both within and outside of EcoCAR. Alexis left a final comment, saying “I know it’s intimidating when you join because everything seems so technical, but I think everyone should take the leap, it’s worth it.”
