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Sage Kiernan-Sherrow<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe skills that I\u2019ve learned in getting a degree in chemistry have really helped me know how to break down problems into smaller pieces,\u201d said Valerie Rippey, representing the first speaker for Western\u2019s FEM in STEM series on Monday, November 4. Currently, Rippey is a Product Manager in an interior design company, where she uses her skills of organization and persistence \u2014 which she gained through her STEM education \u2014 to succeed and inspire future generations of STEM graduates.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2017, Breeann Flesch, an associate professor of computer sciences at Western, organized a lunch with students, faculty and staff who were all in the sciences. The purpose of that lunch, said Leanne Merrill, an assistant professor of math at Western, \u201cwas to just start a conversation and create a community.\u201d The meeting led to an interest in having an organization which supports women in STEM majors at Western, and after obtaining a WOU Foundation grant for that specific purpose, the FEM in STEM speaker series was established.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to Western\u2019s website, \u201cFEM in STEM works on the Western Oregon University campus to connect and support female, non-binary, and other underrepresented and ally students in STEM fields. Our focus is on education, support, and community connection to tangible STEM role models who have a variety of careers and career paths.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot of students at WOU are interested in Med school or grad school, but then there\u2019s some who just want a bachelors degree and don\u2019t necessarily want to continue on in academia,\u201d said Merrill, regarding the importance of Rippey\u2019s representation as someone who did not necessarily continue on in their field of study.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, the importance of FEM in STEM connections go beyond portraying the impact of STEM fields on career choices; Merrill affirms that, \u201cwomen (and femmes) seeing other women in positions of power, leadership, and success is really useful,\u201d and \u201cgives people tangible role models.\u201d This is important because while, \u201ca lot of progress has been made … the fact is that there is still a gap in achievement at the post-grad level and beyond,\u201d said Merrill, referring to the fact that more than 50% of Biology majors are women but don\u2019t progress throughout their career as an example.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Currently, the FEM in STEM series is set to host a minimum of one speaker per term, but there have been \u201cdiscussions about having panels \u2026 and tentative plans for a peer-mentoring system and bigger-name speakers\u201d in the future, according to Merrill, who also wanted to stress that these events are geared toward a general audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are particularly excited to see male colleagues and male student allies at these events \u2026 part of changing the culture is teaching people to be better allies,\u201d said Merrill, who concluded by saying \u201ceveryone can benefit from this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n