NHS students participate in BAE Systems’ Women in Technology program
Four Northport High School students participated in Women in Technology, a 12-week program run by BAE Systems Electronic Systems sector that exposed them to various facets of engineering including software, mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering.
The NHS participants – Lily Eagen, Dora Fields, Ashley Jiminez and Karen Stehlik – also had opportunities to work on presentation skills and network with BAE Systems engineers.
In December, each student was presented with a certificate at a graduation ceremony for the program. BAE Systems describes Women in Technology as giving female high school students with an aptitude in math and science “a practical, hands-on opportunity to explore careers in various technical disciplines.” Women who participate and go on to major in engineering are also encouraged to apply for summer internships through BAE Systems.
Each of the young women who attended the program spoke not only about the program itself, but the camaraderie amongst participants. “I just liked the community of it. All of the people came together to make us feel really supported and it was a great experience,” said Fields, a junior.
Jimenez agreed: “I loved being in the program because it was a bunch of girls, my age, who were also interested in the same areas of study, which was cool,” she said.
Stehlik detailed the program’s influence on her future plans, and how she learned about some areas of engineering that she preferred over others. “I really liked the mechanical part, but I learned that electrical wasn’t for me…,” she said. “So I feel like it opened us up to learning about a lot of different aspects.”
A fellow junior, Eagen emphasized the value of learning about different career paths from the experience. “I want to go into architecture and exploring different parts of engineering is something that’s interesting to me. It was really like a deep dive into what these positions actually do for work and what we like about them and what we don’t like, so it helps us make career decisions,” she said.
