WISE Director Speaks at Seminar for Mexican Engineering Students

On April 30th, WISE Director, Dr. Jill Williams, had the opportunity to present to 21 young women from Sonora, Mexico as part of an educational exchange organized by the Office of Global Initiatives.  The Women in STEM Seminar was tailored to undergraduate women engineers and is an intensive, week-long training seminar that provides resourceful workshops, visits, talks and activities related to the role of women in science, technology, academy, research and the community.  Dr. Williams presented on the state of diversity in STEM fields in the United States and the work WISE does to foster more inclusive and diverse STEM communities at the University of Arizona and in southern Arizona more broadly.  She also had a chance to discuss similarities and differences between the Mexican and US contexts with the students and encouraged them to think about how they might foster diversity and inclusivity at their home institutions.  While WISE works primarily at the UA and in surrounding communities, we welcome the opportunity to work across borders to think about how issues of gender-based disparities might be addressed transnationally.