STEM is a commonly used abbreviation referring to science, technology, engineering and math, and traditionally, the descriptor of a male-dominated industry. However, there is a group of women here on the Hilltop that are currently working to change that through a new on-campus organization — Stemme.

“We are so excited about the opportunities that Stemme could provide to women at Georgetown.  We aspire to create an intellectual, professional and social network for students to connect with each other and discover the many possibilities that exist in the STEM fields, where women are typically underrepresented,” Vice President of Campus Engagement Cailin Grant (NHS ’16) said.

“I envision Stemme as a type of catalyst for bringing together like-minded women and helping them develop, both professionally and intellectually, through this network of individuals,” added Marketing Director Maggie Hansen (COL ’16).

One reason for the group’s creation was to address the lack of community felt among women interested in STEM here at Georgetown.
“It’s really easy to get caught up in these classes and just worry about your GPA. I really want to see this kind of intellectual community in the sense that we’re friends, we have some kind of bond, but underneath all of that is the fact that we’re all really passionate about our fields, and to have an environment that’s welcoming to the female voice,” President Czarina Ramos (COL ’16) said.

Ramos is a neurobiology major, which she admitted is made up mostly of men. However, she does think that the university has done well, at least in the science department, in maintaining a balance in the gender of staff members.

“Georgetown has done a really good job of hiring female professors. You can put yourself in their place and see yourself doing science like they do, which is something super central for girls,” Ramos said. “I think that’s what sometimes society doesn’t understand. The biggest thing about [having] women and young girls do STEM is that you have to have them see someone who they could be like in the next few years.”

A big problem in the area of STEM is that the few women who do end up pursuing careers in these fields tend to leave prematurely, an issue that the group is working to address.

“We want to know why. Is there something driving them away?  Is there something unappealing to women? Is there an issue that needs to be addressed? [We want to talk] about the social aspects of [STEM] freely in an environment that is predominately women,” Ramos said.

The group is contemplating adding a mentorship program in order to further address the problem.
The skewed ratio of males to females can be a difficult topic to broach, which perhaps contributes to the lack of conversation concerning it.

“Nobody wants to talk about … the disparity because you look at science and you look at math and you see this kind of objective world where knowledge is the only thing that matters … but that’s not true. I think that science and math could really benefit from a female perspective. It should be welcome to all types of people. And there are a lot of ideas that come from women that aren’t necessarily highlighted just because they don’t get a lot of coverage and I think that’s something we should work to change,” Ramos said.

However, while concerned with women’s issues, Stemme’s ultimate goal is to spread love for its respective fields and to, perhaps, make up for areas where Georgetown falls short.

“A good deal of the more science-oriented professional resources at Georgetown are geared toward pre-med students or the health care industry, but STEM fields encompass so much more than that — the fact that I’ve had people ask me what I was going to do with my chemistry degree, since I am not pre-med, is indicative of this disconnect between what opportunities the university offers to non-pre-med science students and what opportunities actually exist in the professional world. I hope that Stemme is able to help mitigate this tendency to ignore other options which are detrimental to every non-pre-med STEM major regardless of gender,” Director Hansen said.

“We are brought up in an education where everything is compartmentalized,” Ramos said. “One of the things that Stemme want[s] to push is the idea that we live in a world where science and technology is everywhere. Stemme is not only a world for scientists or nerds; you can be in advertising or accounting.”

Members of Stemme can expect to garner a variety of benefits from the club, such as having the opportunity to network with professionals, engage in dialogue with fellow peers, or perhaps just simply gain a new friend to eat ice cream with after a bad science exam.

Currently there is no application to join, and while the club is still in the process of finalizing some of its developmental issues, a number of activities and events are in the works.