The world of construction and engineering technology is seen mostly as a world dominated by men. Freshman Anastasia Phillips and rest of the women of campus RSO Women in Technology are looking to change that.
“Being women in an engineering major, we are usually the minority,” said Phillips, a freshman studying CAD drafting and tool design. “It’s nice to know you’re not alone in your field. That’s why I’m in Women in Technology.”
Women in Technology’s long-term goal is to increase female enrollment in the College of Engineering Technology by creating an atmosphere that encourages female leadership and participation in typically male-led career fields.
“In the College of Engineering Technology, women are a minority,” said Mary Brayton, a professor of architecture and facility management and the faculty adviser for Women in Technology. “In the architecture and facility management, we get a closer ratio of guys and girls, but for the most part we’re very male heavy.”
Currently, female students make up only 10 percent of the student body in the College of Engineering Technology. Because of this, Women in Technology devotes its time to hosting fundraisers, allowing them to do outreach work, listen to a variety of speakers and take trips to advance their knowledge of the industry.
Women in Technology also invests its time into interacting with the local community by hosting activity days that serve to show young girls the usefulness of being tech savvy.
“We try to have a lot of involvement in the community,” Brayton said. “We did an activity with a girl scout group, helping them earn badges by teaching them some simple stuff. Both the girls and their mothers were very surprised that women were teaching these skills. We like to encourage young girls to want to learn more about our program; a lot of it’s very useful no matter what major you’re in.”
Women in Technology has been working to introduce and orient young women into career fields mostly dominated by men, and Brayton notes the number of women enrolling in the College of Engineering Technology has been steady the past few years. Women in Technology meets the first and third Tuesday of every month at 11 a.m. in Swan 202.