Virtual event designed to inspire women to pursue STEM majors and careers

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Pioneer Valley Women in STEM (PVWIS) network and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) are co-sponsoring Unleash Your Inner STEM!, a free virtual event on Feb. 25 from 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.

While open to all women in STEM (student or professional), this event targets community college women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors.

“We are excited to present this opportunity for our students at Springfield Technical Community College and students across the commonwealth,” said Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh, a STCC engineering and physics professor who established the STCC chapter of the Society of Women Engineers. “’Unleash Your Inner STEM’ is about helping students understand STEM identity, overcome challenges to developing STEM identity, and illustrating ways in which they can leverage their identities throughout their careers.”

Working with McGinnis-Cavanaugh to plan the event are Isabel Huff, a grant project outreach coordinator at STCC; Melissa Paciulli, director of the STEM Starter Academy at Holyoke Community College, and Michelle Rame, an HCC engineering alumna who graduated in 2018 and is now working as a bridge engineer for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.  

McGinnis-Cavanaugh, Paciulli, and Rame co-founded the Pioneer Valley Women in STEM network in 2019, along with Alysha Putnam, former STEM coordinator at Greenfield Community College.

“When women gather together to share their experiences and journeys in STEM, they walk away empowered,” said Paciulli. “HCC is thrilled to partner with STCC on this exciting and important event, which features an incredible lineup of amazing presenters.”

This event is important to women in STEM because it gives them the ability to reflect on how far they’ve come, while also giving them an opportunity to connect with other STEM women in the field. Maeliz Colon, STCC graduate and engineering student at UMass.

Barbara Washburn, dean of the STCC School of STEM, will attend and encourages all STEM students to register.

“The event will be an opportunity for our students to hear from women who are passionate about their work in STEM,” Washburn said. “These networking experiences are so valuable for our students. We’re excited to work with HCC to offer this powerful event.”

STCC students who attend will be eligible to receive a free membership in SWE paid for by a federal HSI-STEM grant. STCC is a designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). 

HCC is currently creating its own chapter of the Society of Women Engineers. In support of this initiative, HCC's STEM Starter Academy is covering the cost of SWE membership for the first 10 HCC students who register for the Unleash Your Inner STEM event.

Maeliz Colon, a STCC graduate seeking a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, said she looks forward to sharing her experience as a woman in STEM. She also works at packaging company Sealed Air as a safety and quality coordinator at one of the firm’s product care facilities. 

“This event is important to women in STEM because it gives them the ability to reflect on how far they’ve come, while also giving them an opportunity to connect with other STEM women in the field,” Colon said. “This type of support from and for fellow women in STEM is important because we all share experiences that we can learn and reflect on. The diversity in panelists also emphasizes that we all have significant stories to tell at all levels and involvement.” 

Unleash Your Inner STEM! is structured in two parts.  It will begin with a panel of inspiring women in STEM who will share stories about their career trajectories.  Three of these panelists are nationally known. Panelists include:

• Maeliz Colon, first-generation engineering student, STCC graduate, and women in STEM advocate;
• Prasha Dutra, engineer, speaker, and creator of the Her STEM Story podcast;
• Marie Louis, Ph.D., engineer, data scientist and professor;
• Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D., squid biologist, science communicator, and executive director of Skype a Scientist; and
• Frances "Poppy" Northcutt, lawyer, women's advocate, and first woman engineer at NASA Mission Control. 

After the panel, participants can join small group breakout sessions about mentoring, jobs and internships, transitions (two-year to four-year transfer, college to workforce), self-promotion and branding, and strategies for survival in a majority-male field.

“A number of sessions specifically target community college students, but there's something for everyone, including professionals, teachers, undergraduates, and graduate students,” McGinnis-Cavanaugh said.

To register, visit bit.ly/unleashstem.

Pioneer Valley Women in STEM is a regional network that connects, supports and empowers women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields including students and professionals.    

About Springfield Technical Community College

STCC, the Commonwealth's only technical community college, continues the pioneering legacy of the Springfield Armory with comprehensive and technical education in manufacturing, STEM, healthcare, business, social services, and the liberal arts. STCC's highly regarded workforce, certificate, degree, and transfer programs are the most affordable in Springfield and provide unequalled opportunity for the vitality of Western Massachusetts. Founded in 1967, the college – a designated Hispanic Serving Institution – seeks to close achievement gaps among students who traditionally face societal barriers. STCC supports students as they transform their lives through intellectual, cultural, and economic engagement while becoming thoughtful, committed and socially responsible graduates.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jim Danko, (413) 755-4812, jdanko@stcc.edu

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