Students start Women in STEM
There’s a new student organization on the Cornell College campus–Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
Two first-year students created it and developed the concept before the school year even started.
“Me and my friend Macy Chisholm, who is my VP right now, came up with this idea during Each One Teach One,” said Amina Abdullahi. “It kind of simmered for a bit, but by Block 3 we were like, yeah we are going to do this.”
The group is already planning its first events. In February they held a movie night showing “Hidden Figures,” a 2016 film about the pivotal role three Black women held at NASA during the early years of the U.S. Space Program. On March 29, they’ll teach the science of how to make boba for bubble tea on the Orange Carpet over lunch.
For Abdullahi and Chisholm, this club is about having fun, supporting others, and creating a feeling of belonging.
“I wanted to help create a community for others like me that are members of historically marginalized groups in STEM fields and increase visibility in these fields for those that come after me,” said Chisholm, an engineering major.
Abdullahi, a biochemistry and molecular biology major who plans to become a surgeon, says she has always felt strongly about being a woman in a STEM field.
“I have always dreamt of making STEM fields and the medical field more open to women,” Abdullahi said. “I want to bring so much more diversity as a black woman going into medicine, and I felt like I needed to bring that little bit of me to Cornell.”
The group has two faculty advisors, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Catherine Volle and William Deskin Professor of Chemistry Cindy Strong.
“I think it’s important to have organizations for historically excluded groups,” Volle said. “One of the things that correlate with persistence in STEM is having a support network and having mentors, being with those people, and being supported by those people, especially people who are going through the same thing. I think that is really important.”
The student organization leaders say the campus community has welcomed Women in STEM, and they’re looking forward to the future as the group grows.
“Here there’s such a huge community of women and fem-presenting people who are in STEM that it’s so easy to feel included and supported here,” Abdullahi said.
Students interested in learning more about Women in STEM can check out the event on March 29, email the group at womeninstem@cornellcollege.edu, or check out their Instagram page (@cornellwomeninstem). Students do not have to be a woman or in a STEM field or degree path to join.
