2001
The Voice: Spring 2001
Women in sciences get support
The new Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) club had its first official meeting in
February, hosting a panel discussion that included Dr. Mary Tanyel, a medical doctor in Sioux
Center; Dr. Sherri Lantinga, a Dordt professor of psychology; and Rachel Marienau, an engineer
at Pella Corporation.
The goal of the meeting was to help women students think through issues related to balancing a
professional career and family responsibilities, says Nicole Vos, a sophomore engineering major
who along with computer science major Darcy Beltman is heading the group. The topic for the
panel was settled upon after asking the nearly thirty women students who expressed interest in
the club what they wished to discuss.
The thirty women are majoring in a variety of fields in the sciences. Vos says that one of the
group's goals is to provide support for women in majors that have particularly low enrollments of
women. Until this year, Vos was the only woman engineering major. Women in computer
science and physics are also few.
“I've gotten used to being in classes with all guys,” says Vos. “I just don't think about it a lot.
That's just the way it is.” But she admits that she notices it more this year as the percentage of
engineering courses she takes increases.
Vos says she was excited this fall when another woman transferred into the program-even
though she is taking a class in which Vos is a teaching assistant, not a student.
Although Vos is unsure of her specific career goals at this point, she wants to help WISE become
a part of campus life, a place where women who find themselves surrounded primarily by male
students can come for support from other women.
She credits club sponsor Jo Faber with being the instigator for the group. Following a conference
on women in science a couple of years ago, Faber and education professor Barb Hoekstra tried to
think of ways to encourage and support women in the sciences. They talked to Vos and Beltman,
who were interested in helping form a club.
“Women students often take their studies so seriously that if they don't absolutely excel they
think they might not make it in the profession,” says Faber. She says there's often a different
dynamic at work: “A woman can get a 92 and think she's in trouble, a man can get an 80 and
think he's doing fine.” Faber hopes that WISE will help women encourage each other.
The women in WISE also received a grant from the Association of Mechanical Engineers this
year to begin a mentoring program in local high schools. The Dordt women hope to talk with
high school students in these schools to encourage them to follow their interest in the sciences.
“We're just getting started, but it's very exciting,” says Vos. She and others appreciate the
support they're getting from faculty in the natural science division. The natural science dean
offered to pay for club refreshments, and engineering professors not only have been strong
supporters, but helped the club apply for the grant. Other faculty in the science building send
notices of possible speakers for the club's meetings.
“They are behind us all the way,” says Faber.
