What is WiSTEM?

WiSTEM: Women and Gender Minorities in STEM.

WiSTEM was founded in July 2020 by Barien Gad, Aminah Ahmed, and Alisha Khan. This group of women felt that Illinois Tech lacked a community of women and gender minority persons in STEM. They wanted to create such a community on campus and encourage these populations to pursue studies in STEM related fields.

Personally, when considering where to pursue my B.S. in Computer Science, I was leaning towards accepting my offer at UIUC, mainly because the Grainger College of Engineering had a Women in Engineering program that was not student-run. The program was run by staff, and I felt that UIUC administration really wanted to encourage women to pursue studies in Engineering and was prepared to cater to them.

Other institutes such as MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and Harvard University have invested in such programs as well. However, like other students, I ultimately chose Illinois Tech, not based on student care, but because of the Camras Scholars Program which covers full-tuition including the student's co-terminal degree.

I remember how I felt as a prospective woman in STEM considering Illinois Tech, and I want this narrative to change. I want minorities to look at Illinois Tech and want to go there, not only because of scholarships and academics, but also for the community on campus, and initiatives taken by administration to cater to their respective populations.

However, I am not a member of Illinois Tech administration, so that is not entirely in my hands. The least I could do in this current situation was to discuss with my peers, Barien, and Aminah, and get started with a student initiative.

WiSTEM was passed by Illinois Tech's Student Government Association in September 2020 by one vote. Many Senate members disagreed with passing the organization as they perceived it as being too similar to other organizations such as Society of Women Engineers, Women in Math, Women in Cybersecurity, etc.

Our key differentiating factor is found in our purpose: to recognize and unite women and gender minorities in STEM to address important topics in our respective fields as well as encourage interdisciplinary discussions. This organization serves to increase the presence of the women and gender minority population on campus. The executive board fully intends for this organization to be a place in which all persons feel welcome. The executive board further hopes to create a support system for one another and foster a network of individuals who will one day work together to bring about a more inclusive and diverse future.

Almost five months have passed since we were approved by Illinois Tech's SGA. WiSTEM has accomplished much in this period, and we are excited to share it with readers in this piece.

WiSTEM's structure includes three levels: the executive board, representatives, and members. The current executive board consists of three members: Barien Gad (President), Alisha Khan (Vice President), and Savanna Gonzalez (Treasurer).

WiSTEM created an original flagship feature of having a board of “Representatives” in September 2020. We have Representatives in different departments/majors and each serve as a point of communication between students in their department/major and the executive board. Representatives provide us with specific resources that we share with members of our organization. They also reach out to professors and department heads to ensure that students know about the events and resources that WiSTEM provides.

Other organizations such as the Illinois Tech Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers liked this approach and have adapted it as well.

WiSTEM held four events last semester:

1. First General Body Meeting: September 28th

   • Formal introduction to the Illinois Tech Community, held breakout rooms with icebreakers for a casual environment to meet other gender minorities in STEM

2. LinkedIn 101 Workshop: October 19th

   • Learned tips and tricks for how to set up a LinkedIn account and use that to your advantage.

3. Looking at Computing's Past to Understand the Present: November 16th

   • This talk by Dr. Hicks looked at gender and race in computing's past to give a longer view of some of the problems we are confronting right now with high tech, and what we can do about them.

4. How to Boost Your Résumé Over Winter Break: November 30th

   • Learned about activities students can do during winter break that can help out their résumé such as free courses, projects, and more. Also discussed how to format résumés so that they are clear, concise, and pass through parsers correctly.

These have averaged around thirty attendees, which was great considering that this organization was founded in the middle of a pandemic, with only virtual meetings, and no external incentives.

We also created our first volume of newsletters, which included three issues. They are posted here: https://sites.google.com/iit.edu/wistem/newsletters

After a very successful first semester, the executive board was even more motivated to invest time into WiSTEM. Even during winter break, weekly board meetings were held to discuss how we can improve even more and serve the community to the best of our abilities.

This semester, we are planning to have events every week that focus on the following topics: career development workshops, community building, STEM events that cater to specific departments, and social justice discussions.

So far, we have the following events confirmed:

1. Interviewing 101: Monday, February 1st, at 12:50 PM CT

   1. Learn about interviewing tips and strategies with this workshop by Illinois Tech Career Services

   2. Link to join: https://meet.google.com/mjg-wiki-cho

2. Women and Gender Minorities in the Workplace: Monday, February 8th, at 12:50 PM CT

   1. This event will discuss topics regarding women and gender minorities in the workforce, such as how to dress for interviews, answering inappropriate questions, knowing your rights, and finding your fit.

   2. Link to join: https://meet.google.com/rwb-hper-opo

3. Networking During Covid: Monday, February 15th at 12:50 PM CT

   1. This event will discuss how to network virtually and how to find resources.

   2. Link to join: https://meet.google.com/hkk-iryv-vbz

4. Fireside Friday, Minorities in STEM Research: Friday, February 26th, at 12:50 PM CT

   1. This event is a collaboration with The Undergraduate Research Journal of IIT (URJ-IIT).

   2. This event will take place on Instagram live and can be accessed either on @iit_wistem or @urj.iit.

Our plan is to have most of our important career-development workshops early in the semester as this is when most people are applying for positions or are moving on in the application process with interviews. As soon as more events are confirmed, they will be posted on our website and emailed out.

The past few weeks, WiSTEM has received extensive attention, not only from the student body, but also from faculty. We have received emails for collaboration with student organizations, and others as well. We are honored to announce that two of our executive board members will be SoReMo Fellows during this semester.

Barien will be researching facilities, amenities, and accommodations for gender minorities in STEM and the impact on Illinois Tech's community.

I will be investigating and developing strategies using a computational model to address faculty and student diversity at Illinois Tech.

Both Barien and I's project will be in conjunction with WiSTEM. We are happy to be working jointly with SoReMo faculty on our research, writing, and outreach projects and will each be receiving a $3,000 stipend for our research.

WiSTEM is not even close to being done yet, we have just started, and we are so excited to continue working on cultivating a stronger student community for minorities at Illinois Tech.