Celebrating Women’s History Month Throughout the Cable, Connectivity, Telecom, Chemicals, and Materials Industries
Burke, Virginia, USA – This March, IWCS is pleased to celebrate Women’s History Month. According to The Library of Congress, Women’s History Month is about “…commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.” In recognition of this important month of awareness, IWCS highlights the significant achievements and contributions that have been made by women. The 71st IWCS Cable & Connectivity Industry Forum, taking place October 10–13, 2022 in Providence Rhode Island, USA, will feature several new event components that recognize the plethora of contributions women have made to advance our industries. An example of one of the new event components is a Technical Symposium session that features papers contributed by women. When submitting a technical paper abstract, authors have the option for their paper presentation to be included in this distinguished session. Save the dates to attend the event and sign-up to receive our e-mail newsletter to receive updates about registration, which will open soon.
In a historically male-dominated industry, many IWCS stakeholders—authors, presenters, students, event attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors—are women. As we look through the IWCS Technical Paper archives, we are proud to see a sizable amount of papers from female authors; and we are committed to continuing to increase female participation. According to the most recent occupation report published by National Science Foundation/National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), we learn that only 29% of Science and Engineering (S&T) jobs are occupied by women. A common theme of striving to balance the employment gender gap is prominent throughout the world, and influencers specific to science and technology industries, including IWCS, are hyper-focused on this initiative.
A scholarly article regarding equality for women in STEM fields notes the importance of education, “Research has highlighted the importance of the educational process in increasing the representation of women and URM [underrepresented minorities] in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).” Part of IWCS’s mission is to develop industry professionals through education and scholarships, and we recognize the importance of doing our part to help young women pursue technical degree programs to prepare themselves for successful careers. In fact, in the two most recent years IWCS scholarships have been awarded, women have represented 46% of IWCS scholarship recipients.
IWCS is committed to doing its part to encourage the upward trajectory of female representation in Cable, Connectivity, Telecom, Chemicals, and Materials industries. Help us to empower and celebrate our female colleagues by sharing the following opportunities to get involved: