Photo By Christine Paul | Women from the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers volunteer at an...... read more read more
The U.S. has a long history of promoting science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, in public education going back to the late 19th century. While there have been major pushes for STEM in education since then, during the space race of the 1950s for example, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that STEM became part of the American vernacular.
The early 2000s saw legislation boosting STEM educators, jobs and programs, alongside efforts to encourage more women and girls to pursue STEM and STEM-related occupations. According to the Society of Women Engineers, in 1980, women made up just 5% of architecture and engineering occupations, 20% of chemistry occupations, 26% of computer and mathematical occupations and 33% of biological scientists. In 2023, those numbers were 16.7%, 26.9%, 36% and 55%, respectively. While women have come a long way in STEM fields over the last few decades, there is still room for improvement.
At the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there is a group of women who volunteer their time to participate in an annual event known as, “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.” Designed for middle school and high school-aged girls, “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” is an opportunity for girls to connect with female engineers in their local communities to learn more about the STEM field.
“[Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day] is a really cool event that caps off Engineers Week in February,” said Emily S. Nziramasanga, hydraulic engineer with the Kansas City District. “It gives the girls opportunities to interact with actual engineers. It’s fun to try and encourage kids and try to give them a little bit of insight.”
The day is a full one that consists of mentorship, ice breakers, guest speakers, a practical exercise and for the high school-aged girls, a college panel and -career fair. To attend, girls must show an interest in STEM and meet other established criteria. For the volunteer mentors, the day is important to show the many opportunities available to anyone who may be interested in STEM or a STEM-related fields.
“It’s a lot of planting seeds in these girls’ minds and letting them know they have a lot of options,” said Mack Landen, civil engineer with the Kansas City District. “They might doubt themselves now but teaching them what imposter syndrome is … if men can do it, women can do it. So, it’s just planting that seed in them … that they are valued.”
The women who volunteer to be mentors don’t have to be actual engineers. Those in STEM-related fields can also volunteer to help educate girls about the variety of opportunities available to them. For Jacqy Frazier, chemist with the Kansas City District, “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” is an opportunity for her to share knowledge she wishes she would have had at the same age.
“It’s not just engineering … there’s all these different facets of engineering and STEM that are needed and all play an important part in our daily lives,” said Frazier. “[It] allows them to ask questions … and depending on what field they’re leaning to, can help put them in the right direction and give them the resources to do so.”
Frazier, who has worked at the Kansas City District for over 16 years, feels lucky to have found the opportunity to work for USACE when she did. During school, she was told her only option as a chemist was to work in a lab. But she craved a different work environment—one based in teamwork. After briefly working in a traditional chemistry lab, Frazier applied for an intern position with USACE and has been with the district ever since.
“[USACE] had a chemist intern spot, and it was exactly what I was looking for,” said Frazier. “You’re working in team environments, you’re doing sampling in the field, you’re reviewing data, and I was like, ‘this is exactly what I want.’”
Now, as a senior project manager with the Kansas City District’s Environmental Planning Branch managing Hazardous Toxic and Radioactive Waste sites, Frazier has mostly worked on projects in the Formerly Used Defense Site Program and the Superfund Program. Her participation in the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” event allows her to help grow the next generation who might one day work on similarly important projects.
“[The event] allows us to ensure we have the next generation of engineers and scientists because our work, whether it’s environmental cleanup or building buildings, software or robots, it’s not going away,” said Frazier. “We want to make sure we’ve got capable people who will continue the work that needs to happen.”
Nziramasanga and Landen’s interest in engineering stemmed from similar experiences. For Nziramasanga, she remembers being a child and seeing a picture in National Geographic showing a boy standing on a trash heap with a stream nearby, which was his village’s main water source. A few years later, she babysat for a woman who was studying civil engineering to whom she expressed her interest in water.
“[Seeing the photo,] even as a little kid I understood, ‘this is not okay,’” said Nziramasanga. “I was babysitting for this woman … and I was telling her I was feeling like I was being called to do something with water, clean water, and she was like, ‘oh, you need to be a civil engineer.’ So, she kind of got that ball rolling in my head.”
Nziramasanga currently works in the Kansas City District’s Water Management Branch but has also worked in the Geotechnical Branch and has worked on the Dam Safety Program during her 20 years with USACE. She hopes by volunteering as a mentor at the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” events, she can show young girls that by working hard, you can accomplish anything.
“Being able to encourage somebody who might be on the fence or even receives negative feedback … you never know when that influence is going to take root and bear fruit someday,” said Nziramasanga. “If I can be that person to encourage somebody, because it’s going to be hard, reality check, it’s not easy, but if you want it, you can do it.”
For Landen, her interest in engineering was purely by chance. She was required to pick a book for summer reading in her AP Biology class in high school. She recalls randomly choosing a book about New York’s floating trash barge. Coupled with her love of the outdoors, Landen realized she wanted to pursue civil engineering.
“[That book] kind of steamrolled it for me and I was like, ‘woah, we have a lot of waste,’” said Landen. “I got very into the environmental aspect and learned about cradle to grave, industry waste and some of the pollutions we have. I had always been an outdoorsy kid so it kind of connected the two.”
Landen has worked for USACE for seven years-- first in the River Engineering Section and then for the Hydraulic and Hydrology Engineering Section. Now, as a project manager in the Kansas City District’s Planning Branch, she gets to work on projects with all different types of engineers. Landen hopes she can help young girls connect their hobbies to engineering by volunteering as a mentor at Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day events.
“Diversity of thought is huge … and is something we really need in our field right now,” said Landen. “If there is something that interests you, like ‘you’re in love with makeup? Great. Guess what? You can be a chemical engineer and design makeup,’ or ‘you like computers? You can build robots, or you can focus on gaming.’ So, kind of connecting their interests with how that connects to engineering and how they can get there.”
| Date Taken: | 10.15.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.15.2024 09:43 |
| Story ID: | 483099 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 8 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Connecting the dots: Annual event educates girls about STEM opportunities, by Christine Paul, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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