When Dr. Shraddha Joshi was trying to attend college in India, she was encouraged by friends to pursue a career in computer science. It’s a more “female-friendly field,” they told her. Instead, Joshi followed her true passion for mechanical engineering.
Now assistant department head and associate professor of engineering at JMU, Joshi urges current and future female students pursuing science, technology, engineering and math to be themselves.
“Don’t try to be like somebody else,” she said. “Be your whole, authentic, female, woman self. Because the perspective that you can bring as a woman, males cannot bring. ... Just identify what your strengths and unique positions are, and don’t be afraid to speak up about it.”
Senior Taylor Kwiatkowski (’25), who is completing a Geo-Environmental Engineering concentration, and junior Abby Straley, who is pursuing a Civil and Environmental Engineering concentration, have also faced adversity in proving themselves in male-dominated fields, but both have excelled at Madison — in part because of the support they’ve received from peers.
Kwiatkowski was looking for other like-minded women when she attended Student Org Night her freshman year, discovered the JMU chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and decided to join. Now president of the organization, she is furthering its mission to empower women in engineering, helping them succeed and advance themselves professionally.
Kwiatkowski and Straley have also been completing their Senior Capstone Project, which focuses on stream and river restoration at Little Dry River in the George Washington National Forest. It’s a part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and they work alongside the nonprofit Trial Unlimited. “I’m proud of us as a team to do this type of engineering work for free, essentially to make sure these streams are still healthy for the city,” Kwiatkowski said.
Straley is president of the JMU chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which she joined after engineering professor Dr. Daniel Castaneda recognized her interests in civil engineering and introduced her to the club.
“Most of the women in STEM I have met over the years are strong leaders with powerful voices that demand to be heard, but most of us did not start out that way,” Straley said.
“In this engineering program, we do a lot of project-based work," Straley said. "Whenever we picked project teams, I noticed that men usually would pick each other, because they are either closer friends or they assume that other men would be better to work with. This left me feeling like I had to prove myself as a leader and capable student in classroom settings, so I did. Once I was able to prove myself, it became easier to work with the men, and I felt more accepted. But the point is that I should have never had to prove myself in the first place when men never had to.”
Straley and Kwiatkowski recalled their peers impacting and supporting them along their shared journey as women in STEM. “A big part of being able to thrive in a male-dominated field is to build relationships with others around you,” Straley said. “I made it a goal to introduce myself to all of the other women in my classes freshman year so that no one felt alone.”
To help reach the next generation of women in STEM, JMU hosts the annual madiSTEM, a free conference in March for girls in sixth through eighth grade. There, girls participate in hands-on STEM workshops and attend presentations by women in STEM careers.
SWE members also conducted the workshop “What’s Inside?,” which allowed girls to explore with tools and open computers, as well as learn about circuits and different types of engineering.
There are drawbacks to women not being a part of discussions and designs of everyday products, Joshi said. “If you think about the car seats or even car seat belts, table heights, machine setups, they always look like they’re set up specifically for a male person,” she explained.
“Bringing in that fresh perspective on thinking about, ‘What might designing for a broader audience look like?’ It’s something important to bring to the table.”
