Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers are common here at Emerson. Our company published a study this year that found:
…that 6 out of 10 Americans are interested in pursuing STEM careers – but fewer than 4 in 10 (39%) have felt encouraged to do so. The disparity is even more pronounced among women: 2 out of 3 U.S. women say they were not encouraged to pursue a career in STEM.
Emerson supports a very active Women in STEM initiative to encourage women in the workforce as well as students considering career options on the benefits of STEM-based careers. I caught up with Emerson’s Sue Ooi who is a vice president of marketing in the valves, actuators and regulators portion of the business.
Sue is active in the Houston chapter of Women in STEM. She notes that Women in STEM is not just for women and engineers, but also for all supporters to be members, participate, and advance programs for the year.
Some of the Houston chapter’s initiatives for 2020 include a monthly newsletter and LinkedIn communications, topical lunches across the various Houston area Emerson offices led by site champions, community outreach programs to drive awareness and interest of STEM programs to children and teenagers in the Houston community and participate and present in organizations such as Women’s Energy Network, Lean In Energy and Girlstart.
Sue wanted to give a shout out to the Emerson Women in STEM Core Team members driving these initiatives forward. These include Lara Tellis, Juliana Herman, Elena Carrillo, Alexandra Dumitru, Jan Bendfeldt, Lorrie Thompson, and Dianne Eldridge. Also a special mention to Akberet Boykin- Farr, our VP of Diversity and Inclusion and Dave Tredinnick, the chapter sponsor who have provided great guidance and support to this initiative.
In the Emerson Exchange 365 community, there is a very active Women In STEM group where not only women and men around Emerson share their stories of their experiences and lessons learned, but also stories from Emerson customers and others with passion for seeing more people join and stay in the ranks of STEM professionals.
If you and your company are also active in encouraging greater participation in STEM careers, feel free to reach out to Sue and the Women in STEM core team or share your story in the Emerson Exchange 365 Women in STEM group.
