When she was a young engineer, Kathy didn’t see much diversity or female representation in her field. Over the years, things have improved some. But she knows we can do better. Kathy understands the value of positive role models and is determined to inspire the next generation of tomorrow makers.
I was fortunate that I was in a family where the question wasn't if I was going to college, it was where. So that makes a big difference. Plus, I love math and science. I was a gymnast and had a knee injury. In my orthopedist's office, there was prosthesis on the shelf. So I asked about those. That's how I knew that I wanted to be a biomedical engineer and that I wanted to build orthopedic implants. At the time, there weren't really programs in that, because it was sort of a new field. So you either went as a chemical engineer and you worked on this aspect or became a mechanical engineer and did that. And I always liked chemistry. So, although I was a mechanical engineer, my training was more materials science.
Yes, absolutely. It's something I've always loved. When I was in high school, I really didn't know what engineering was, other than my dad was a chemical engineer. I really didn't know what he did on a day-to-day basis. He had an MBA, so he was more of the briefcase guy. He did more of the business aspect of it. But he has a couple of patents, so he's creative. And my mom was a dancer/writer, so she was on the creative side. I try to instill that STEM and engineering are very creative. If you're inventing something, you've created something that didn't exist before. Even in engineering and technology, you're taking pieces that exist, but putting them together in a new way. That's creativity.
Women often have the desire to enter careers where they can make a difference. I think if we can position a STEM career as being something that does matter, you would have much greater interest. My undergraduate degree is in mechanical engineering and my graduate degree is in biomedical engineering. I think 50% of all women engineers are in the biomedical field. That supports my hypothesis that the more empathetic and caring you can make the career, the better. Typical careers for a women are in teaching and nursing. Maybe society has funneled them into these areas or maybe there is some inherent desire to help people and give back.
Biomedical, and so many other fields of engineering, are humanistic at the core. You're doing things to benefit society. A lack of women role models is huge. Like the old saying, "If you see her, you can be her." The National Science Foundation and the other government organizations are using that to their advantage by showing women and women of color doing all different kinds of things and inspiring girls to do those things. We need more role models. We need to show that engineering helps people. We need to show that it's sustainable. There are green jobs and opportunities helping animals and people. Engineering is everything that we see. It's not just Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory.
In 1990, women made up 23% of the STEM workforce. Today it is 27%. I think we're getting better at trying to not perpetuate the blatant stereotypes. There are still a lot of issues with cultural bias and it's more of this implicit bias. It can be how parents approach things, especially with math and computing. If they have anxieties, they get passed on to their daughter. There are studies that show that girls' performance in math classes can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. They think that they’re not supposed to be good in math, so they underperform. And then you see societal things. I did feel some of this, that if you're a successful woman, you're viewed negatively. If you're a successful guy, you're an aggressive go-getter. So that's difficult. And then in the workplace, it's hard to be a mom and a successful anything, never mind engineering. I moved up super quickly and I joked with my husband that it was because I was a talking skirt. I got my Ph.D. degree in 1991. How many female Ph.D. engineers do you think there were? Not a lot.
Studies say the number one thing you need to do is change the culture. How better to change the culture, than having women in the culture? It affects not only the workplace, but it affects the health and well being of our society. For example, take seatbelts and how cars are designed. They're designed for the average 70 kilogram man, not a woman, never mind a pregnant woman. Cell phone sizes are based on a man's hand, not a woman's hand. Voice recognition was developed by male software engineers. Who did they test it on? Men. So these are things that are inherent in our society. I'm not saying that whoever made the first seatbelt wanted to kill women. But with a woman on the design team, she might've said, "Excuse me. My grandma is 65 and has osteoporosis. Is this airbag or this seatbelt going to hurt her? Or what do you do about a pregnant woman?" So there are things that are just kind of implicit when men are making decisions. These other scenarios aren't necessarily at the top of the thought process.
As assistant dean, Kathy oversees all plastics, welding, civil and surveying, and manufacturing majors. Most recently, she was an adjunct professor teaching graduate courses at Immaculata University, an educational and professional development consultant, and director of the Make-it-Matter Materials Science Camp at Penn State. From 2002-18, Kathy was a science teacher at New Egypt High School in Plumsted, New Jersey, where she received the 2011 Princeton University Prize for Distinguished Secondary School Teaching.
Her industry experience includes senior director of product development at Ortec International and manager of biomaterials at Therics Inc. Kathy has presented at several seminars and workshops, been published in peer-reviewed journals and is the co-inventor of two U.S. patents. She holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton.
"Women are 50% of the population, so we should hold 50% of engineering jobs. The more diverse voices you have anywhere, the more the culture is going to reflect the needs of those people."
Kathy Chesmel
Assistant Dean, Materials Science and Engineering Technologies Division
Kathy is one of three female assistant deans leading the School of Engineering Technologies. Together, they direct and inspire students like Lauryn Stauffer who are making names for themselves in typically male-dominated fields.
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