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| Increasing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Success |
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They are actively shaping the future in the STEM fields and opening doors for more women to enter this male-dominated field. Meet Latinas of several STEM categories, their challenges, struggles and joy in a scientific and technology life.
 Dr. Mary Fernández |
Dr. Fernández received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from Brown University and a Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University. She is also a recipient of AT&T Bell Labs’ Graduate Research Program for Women, which made it possible to attend and complete graduate school.
“I am very grateful for all the opportunities that one program provided me, and I want to “give back” to other students who have aptitude and drive, but need help along the way,” she said. “I do believe that Latinas are a vast untapped resource that could fulfill our nation’s demand for STEM professionals. To reach them, STEM fields, and computing in particular, need to do a better job advertising why their careers are so good for Latinas. In addition to being able to secure a well-paying job with an undergraduate degree, computing gives women enormous flexibility in work schedule and location. This is valuable to young mothers and would support Latinas who want both a career and family.”
Fernández encourages Latinas to not be afraid to take challenging math and science classes, including computing classes. “Computing requires a great deal of creative thought and there is room and a need for many types of people to be computing professionals,” Fernández said.
Fernández is currently on the board and chair-elect for 2011 of MentorNet, an online mentoring for students in STEM majors.
“More than 10 percent of our participants are Hispanic and 12 percent African American (sadly, these numbers are way higher than the matriculation rate of these populations in STEM fields),” she said. “Our simple observation is that students need to have role models who can help them navigate their undergraduate and, hopefully, graduate careers. This is especially true for students who are first-generation college students.”
Lizette Macias
Business Manager, the Watson Cogeneration Company
Lizette Macias, business manager at the Watson Cogeneration Company, a joint venture cogeneration facility between BP and Edison Mission Energy, anticipated becoming an engineer, specifically an electrical engineer instead of a chemical engineer. “It wasn’t until I was nearing the end of my college career and after gaining some technical experience that I wanted to pursue an MBA,” she states.
In this role, Macias is responsible for financial planning and reporting, accounting, procurement, inspection, documentation for compliance with the North American Reliability Council and Western ECC, and managing the relationships with the partner and utility.
Macias’ career comes a long way, from spending several pre-college years in an international school in Indonesia, to attending Texas A&M University where she earned a bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering Macias also interned a few college summers with Shell Oil Company as well as in a program called Center for the Advancement of Hispanics in Science and Engineering Education (CAHSEE). After graduating college, Macias worked for FMC Corporation as a Process Engineer at their hydrogen peroxide plant in Bayport, TX where she helped commission the expansion project increasing annual production from 100 to 240 million pounds. After a year and a half with FMC, she decided to join Jacobs Engineering as a Process Engineer where she worked on various projects in the Houston office, and was later transferred to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA where she was part of the non-proliferation group whose purpose was to identify foreign sites suspected of involvement with weapons of mass destruction. Two years later, ready to return to a manufacturing environment, she worked for BP at their Texas City Refinery as an optimization engineer on the HF Alkylation unit. Towards the end of this role, she decided to attend night school to earn a MBA from the University of Houston and shortly thereafter became the availability analyst for the refinery coordinating, tracking, and forecasting availability metrics of 30+ units which are key benchmarking and performance indicators within the refining industry. She then moved into a commercial role as an Investment Analyst helping to manage the portfolio of projects totaling more than $400m. In 2007, she graduated with an MBA and also became the business performance manager of the Texas City Refinery. In this role she was responsible for financial planning and reporting, developing the site strategic business plan, and communicating performance to corporate headquarters as well as site employees. In 2010, she was transferred to the Carson site as the Business Manager for the cogeneration plant.
Macias credits her father as one of her role models. “He is one of nine children in his family and was the first to attend college and continued to work and attend school while helping to support a young family,” she says. “He stressed the importance of education and integrity and demonstrated what can be achieved through hard work and ganas.”
And so she does. Through perseverance and determination, Macias has overcome many challenges in this male-dominated field. “I believe in working hard, but playing hard as well,” she says. “Being a Latina has brought more challenges in a technical field. I believe there is a bigger misconception that Latinos do not have the intelligence, skills, or work ethic to be successful in a STEM field than there is for women in STEM fields. I maintain a high degree of professionalism in the workplace, pay much attention to detail and thoroughly review work before sharing it as complete, ensure I meet deadlines even it if means putting in many extra hours. Essentially do what is necessary to avoid providing the opportunity for others assume Latinos are less capable of contributing in a STEM field.”
Macias’ advice for the Latinas interested in the STEM arena is to “Do it!” she states. “There will be challenges along the way including family, friends, and professors who may be less than supportive, difficult courses which require extra attention and/or tutoring, financial needs, but these can all be overcome and you will be stronger because of it. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not possible - only you can prevent yourself from accomplishing your goals. Regarding financial challenges, there are numerous scholarships available, including some that will provide you with a free education! Make sure you take the time to do some research and apply.”
 Lizette Macias as a painter. |
 Family (L-R), nephew, sister, dad, mother, sister-in-law, brother and Lizette. |
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Past "Increasing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Success " |
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Vol. 17, No.2
March 2011
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