In 1970, women made up 38% of all U.S. workers and 8% of STEM workers. By 2019, the STEM proportion had increased to 27% and women made up 48% of all workers.

Computing and Information Sciences

Why should women and underrepresented group pursue STEM?

Women should pursue a career in STEM and Computing because technology is here to stay and women deserve a chance at the opportunities presented in this ever-growing field. Women’s participation in technology will help ensure unbiased research and product development in the technology of the future.

How does Edgewood promote inclusivity in STEM and CIS programs?

In alignment with the values instilled in us by the Sinsinawan Dominican Sisters, here at Edgewood College our mission is to provide equal opportunities for education for anyone who desires it. Our students and faculty are committed to and constantly engaged in further advancing the ongoing efforts towards diversity and inclusion.

The CIS department works actively with the community, including being involved with campus computing and STEM clubs and working toward the advancement of women in computing. There has been an influx of women entering this career path, because there is a need for them in the workforce.

There are many outreach activities that the faculty has been involved in throughout their years at Edgewood College. Faculty and student(s) co-present at Expanding Your Horizons (EYH), a conference organized by UW Madison to promote STEM to middle school girls every year since 2014. In the past, the CIS faculty have collaborated with Maydm, a non-profit organization which teaches computing to schoolgirls and other underrepresented groups, creating a space for these students to flourish in technology. The CIS department has worked with Edgewood College to establish a sponsorship for the Badgerland Girl Scouts to host Coding Squad monthly events at Edgewood College for 2018.We have also hosted many Coding events in Wisconsin Science Olympiad Division C in recent years.

There has also been tremendous student involvement as shown when students have volunteered multiple times in Badgerland Girl Scouts Coding Squad events. These events could last all day on weekends, but helping young girls begin their path towards CIS and STEM was what mattered most. There was also a Programming Contest with Jefferson Middle School during the Spring semester of 2019 that the IT Project Management class put together. This contest focused on helping these middle schoolers understand the basics of the programming language Python, and to see who made the best designs using it.

grace

Elizebeth S. Friedman - 1999 Hall of Honor Inductee

Pioneer in United States Cryptology

Elizebeth Smith Friedman was a pioneer in the formation of cryptology in the United States. She is commonly referred to as America's first female cryptanalyst. She was the youngest in her family of nine other children.
Elizebeth attended Wooster College in Ohio and graduated from Hillside college in Michigan with a major in English literature. She also studied Latin, Greek, and German. Out of her and her nine siblings she was one of two to attend college.
She began her career by working with businessman George Fabyn. At Fabyn's Riverband estate she would join a large and distinguished group of colleagues. Riverbank was one of the first places in the world to encourage cryptology. Fabyn would encourage his people to use their code breaking skills to decipher some of Shakespeare's text. Elizebeth was encouraged to do what she loved, which was code breaking.
Eventually her and her husband would move to Washington, DC, to work for the War Department. During the second World War Elizebeth and her husband led the U.S' first codebreaking unit.
She is partly responsible for the take down of international drug rings, liquor smugglers, Nazi spy rings, and the win of the Battle of the Atlantic.

See here for more information about Mrs. Friedman and her life story

STEM

Are you motivated to succeed? Do you have a 3.0 or higher GPA? Then we want YOU to join a STEM Learning Community!

Find out more at: www.edgewood.edu/STEM