There are no female faculty members right now on the fisheries side of the Fish and Wildlife Sciences Department. I have not had a female professor in a science-based class at the University of Idaho since my sophomore year.
While I have never been the only woman in a classroom, it has often been close; just last semester, I was one of two women in a class on fisheries management.
Being outnumbered in a classroom isn’t inherently bad, but when it’s a consistent pattern it can create a culture where it feels like it’s normal or like we should be outnumbered. Things that wouldn’t be acceptable in a more balanced classroom tend to slide past without comment: here a joke about M-R-S degrees and there a professional conversation that includes unsolicited advice on whether to have children.
Almost universally, lectures fail to acknowledge the past contributions of women to a field, leaving us to wonder whether we are the first or if our work is just not worth mentioning in the textbooks.
Everyone deserves to feel like they have a supportive community. For those of us who have been “the only one” in a classroom or program, groups like the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native American in Science and the Women in Science Society can feel like a safe haven.
It’s incredibly validating to know you’re not alone.
In the absence of a particularly representative classroom community, these student groups empower us to build our own. When the UI WSS chapter was started in 2018, I remember feeling overwhelmed by how many of my peers were as excited about the group as I was. It was as if we had all been waiting for someone to bring us together.
I joined the mentorship program, and I instantly had a more experienced student excited to chat with me about which classes to take, what applying to grad school was like and what jobs I should investigate. WSS was a rare space in which I instantly felt like I belonged.
It makes me truly proud to wear my WSS t-shirt to school and represent this organization that has brought so much joy to my time as an undergrad. They flood my social media with empowering quotes and profiles on amazing scientists both past and present.
In the pandemic, they have brought us together for game nights, meditation sessions, networking events and professional workshops. In WSS, we lift each other up as friends and as future colleagues in a workforce that has not historically welcomed us.
I believe that each cohort of WSS graduates leaves the Vandal family a little more accepting, supportive and inclusive. One day, maybe the group will seem like a silly relic from a time when women felt like they needed to seek support in order to feel welcome in STEM fields. Until then, WSS provides an invaluable service to our UI community, connecting and encouraging cohorts of scientists who will go on to change the world.
WSS, NSBE, SWE, SACNAS and all student organizations like them create a more equal and welcoming campus, building a STEM community that reflects the full diversity of our institution. We should be proud that these groups exist at the UI.
Beth Hoots can be reached at [email protected].