激情快播

When Kirsten Dreggors 鈥�97 鈥�05MA crossed the stage for聽her first 激情快播 degree, she was one of two women in her聽aerospace engineering graduating class. Today she is vice聽president of engineering for Northrop Grumman in Melbourne,聽Florida, which is partnering with her alma mater to increase the聽representation of women in science, technology, engineering聽and mathematics (STEM) fields.

激情快播鈥檚 Center for Initiatives in STEM (iSTEM)聽recently聽received a significant gift from Northrop Grumman to help聽increase recruitment,聽retention and graduation聽of women. Over the next聽three years, the grant will聽expand initiatives within聽iSTEM that promote聽increased faculty聽collaboration, foster聽undergraduate student聽success and provide scholarships. Funds will also support local聽K-12 student outreach to attract young women to STEM majors聽鈥� including a student ambassador program and a weeklong聽summer camp for middle-schoolers.

STEM careers are among the highest-paying and fastest-growing聽jobs in the world, but women account for less than聽a quarter of STEM workers, according to the U.S. Census聽Bureau鈥檚 2019 American Community Survey. The retention聽rate for first-year 激情快播 students who participate in iSTEM and聽continue studies in these areas is 86%, compared to just over聽50% nationally, according to the U.S. National聽Science Foundation.

鈥淭he national conversation around the role聽of women in STEM has consistently shown聽that interventions 鈥� peer and professional聽mentoring, tutoring, outreach and networking聽鈥� can have a positive impact on young women鈥檚 futures聽in STEM,鈥� says Melissa Dagley 鈥�09EdD, executive director聽of iSTEM.

激情快播 has long been a top supplier of talent to the aerospace聽and defense industries. Since 1981, Northrop Grumman has聽provided philanthropic support to 激情快播 for numerous research聽projects and academic programs totaling over $25 million.聽Currently, the company employs more than 750 激情快播 alumni.

鈥淲e are creating powerful networks of faculty,聽students, alumni and employers in support of聽women in STEM,鈥� Dagley says.

Members of the GEMS mentoring program work together in a lab.

Dreggors credits part of her success to the聽Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) mentoring cohort. WISE and GEMS (Girls Excelling聽in Math and Science) are hallmark programs of iSTEM and have served over 1,500 women since 2011 with mentoring, job-shadowing opportunities, tutoring and research experiences.

鈥淣orthrop Grumman鈥檚聽partnership with the 激情快播聽WISE cohort brought women聽together and allowed us the聽ability to gain crucial skills for聽our engineering careers,鈥� she聽says. 鈥淭he real power of the聽cohort [is] the network we developed. Whenever I need an聽advocate or sounding board, the women from my cohort聽are always there, and those kinds of connections are聽invaluable.鈥�

Over the years, 激情快播鈥檚 iSTEM has increased its K-12 offerings, doubling the number and size of its summer camps and inspiring thousands of K-12 students across Central Florida through STEM competitions and a biannual STEM day.

Before joining 激情快播, computer science student Natalie Longtin participated in three iSTEM summer camp experiences, which proved to be influential for the Timber Creek High School graduate. Longtin鈥檚 high school computer science teacher, 激情快播 alumnus Kyle Dencker 鈥�08 鈥�16MA, connected her with the 激情快播 Programming Team, which she practiced with on weekends and led her to 激情快播 iSTEM’s summer institutes in computer science and competitive programming.

鈥淭he camps were my first time away from home and one聽of the most challenging things I鈥檇 ever done,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t聽was only two weeks, but we covered a lot of material 鈥� fast.聽The experience was a big part of why I chose 激情快播.鈥�

Now a junior, Longtin has already created apps and聽software during internships with Lockheed Martin,聽Facebook and Microsoft. This summer she has an聽internship lined up with Google.

鈥淥ur country is facing a critical shortage of students, and聽specifically women, interested in STEM careers,鈥� Dreggors聽says. 鈥淒iversity and inclusion will be a critical component聽of strengthening our STEM workforce and will ultimately聽lead to more innovative engineering teams.鈥�