The UPWARD UNITES WOMEN program is a yearlong mentorship program that connects college women in STEM fields with engineers and thought leaders at Intel. The goal is to give these students the knowledge of those who have navigated their way to successful careers so they can do the same thing.
As proud as I am of the work we’ve done for our generation of leaders, I’m even more excited about the UNITE Program and what it can do for the next one.
Asha Keddy, who oversees next-generation technologies and standards at Intel, including the rollout of 5G communications, says, “I wish these were things I knew twenty or twenty-five years ago.”
Now many more will.
2020-2021 University Partnership Publications
“The events are student driven,”describes Wilson. “We meet regularly to talk about
programming, but it’s the students who highlight what they are interested in learning about and then the rest of us think about who we know who could address those needs.”
Topics the students have requested range from future technologies to mentors’ career paths, finding a job in a pandemic, and tackling imposter syndrome. Regarding imposter syndrome, Wilson points out that people often consider the activities boys do growing up to be mechanical or engineering related (taking things apart, playing with cars or bridges, and so on) but shouldn’t sell short what girls have been conditioned to learn. “Things we were taught to do when I was a young girl, such as sewing and cooking, are also engineering concepts even if they’re not appreciated as such. You have to think about timing or how to piece things together, for example,” she explains.
Starting a career in technology is intimidating enough to begin with. Not only is technology, and more broadly Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM), a challenging and ever-changing field, but the details of the field are unknown until one begins to study. By its very nature as the foundation of innovation, STEM inherently warrants that the rules and research are constantly progressing forward, rendering it nearly impossible to stay up to date and on the cutting edge. This means that students cannot just learn about the past, they must also develop a deep understanding of the material to cultivate a balanced perspective to look toward the future. This is an intimidating challenge to take on, but an altruistic one too. STEM mentorship can help reduce the entry barriers and provide ample opportunities to those considering a career in the field. Imagining a future that is distinctly different from the present we live in today, and envisioning your place within it, becomes even easier when this mentor shares qualities that you identify with, creating a tangible future to pursue and look forward to.