Kennesaw State’s women in stem had the opportunity to hear from four female leaders in science at a forum hosted by the Office of Research on Oct. 10.
The event was part of the investiture ceremony events celebrating President Kathy Schwaig that week. Speakers in attendance were Stacey Young-McCaughan, Nancy Messonnie, Marija Mikic and Komal Patel. President Schwaig and Phaedra Corso, KSU’s Vice President for Research, also attended.
“I found the discussion thought-provoking and, judging by the number and quality of the questions submitted during the Forum, I think that the audience did as well,” Young-McCaughan told The Sentinel. “As we emerge from the isolation of the pandemic, I felt that this discussion highlighted the need for engagement, commitment to professional excellence and the strength of diverse teams working collaboratively to accomplish anything.”
Young-McCaughan is the Director of Research for the STRONG STAR Consortium at the University of Texas Health San Antonio’s School of Medicine. Young-McCaughan has also served 29 years as an Army Nurse Corps Officer before her retirement from the Army in 2008.
Grace Astor, a freshman majoring in Math Education, was in attendance. Astor said that hearing a group of confident, successful women in these fields share their experiences was inspirational to her as a female student pursuing a career in STEM.
“When they were talking about their struggles with people doubting them and doubting their intelligence, that was relatable to me,” Astor said. “Some people have doubted my intelligence in the past and it was interesting to see that even people with titles like theirs, they are still getting doubted.”
Messonnier currently serves as the Dean of the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Messonnier has also fulfilled positions in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 25 years, completing her experience there as the Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases in 2021. Messonnier encouraged students to reach out to and connect with faculty mentors.
Mikic spoke passionately on advocating for women in similar fields to uplift others and how “Helping women remove that cloud of doubt they may have about their skills or experience goes a long way.”, according to a KSU news release. She is a senior engineering director in YouTube Ads and site lead for Google Los Angeles.
Patel is a senior manager at Lockheed Martin. She encouraged students to pursue opportunities in their paths despite any fear of rejection. “Say ‘yes’ to every opportunity, because each one will teach you something about yourself, your skills, and your goals,” Patel said according to a KSU news release.
Corso provided some inspiring recent statistics regarding KSU’s women in STEM. Corso shared that women made up 57% of participants in the Office of Undergraduate Research’s First-Year Scholars program. In addition, it was shared in the same news release that this semester’s incoming freshman class, the entire undergraduate student body, and the graduate student body are all made up of a female majority for the first time in the university’s history.
