The Women in Technology (WIT) program was founded in 2005 through a VTEA Grant sponsored by Dr. Stephanie Rodriguez, now dean of Industry and Technology. Its primary goal/mission is to promote recruitment, retention, and graduation of women in non-traditional technical majors.
WIT encourages women to view non-traditional employment from a practical, hands-on, interactive perspective, and “Empower Women for Economic Success.”
Here are some facts:
• Today, women have a 90 percent chance of becoming sole support for themselves and/or their children at sometime during their lives.
• Women in non-traditional careers typically earn 20 to 30 percent more than women in traditional occupations.
• Women who are members of unions earn about 30 percent more than women working in places without unions.
Currently, there are about 150 EC students participating in the program.
The WIT Center, located in Technical Arts, Room 104B has a staff consisting of peer mentors, and peer tutors who provide a variety of services including scholarships, resources and support activities.
The WIT Club is involved in campus activities and in promoting women in non-traditional careers. Please visit elcamino.edu/academics/indtech/wit and our facebook for more information.
WIT, Wednesdays where students, faculty and staff can share ideas, discover common interests, provide support, and motivate each other, are held at the WIT Center at 1 p.m.
Recently WIT visited Northrop Grumman with 19 women students who were interested in engineering and technology. Other recent site visits included Haas-TEC conference, Southern California Edison and Robinson Helicopter. Future visits are planned for Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Haas Automation in the Spring semester.
We are still seeking additional women who are interested in technical fields. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please contact the Women in Technology Office at (310) 660-3593, ext. 6780, Victoria Martinez, WIT Program Coordinator at [email protected].
The views expressed in Campus Insight are those of the authors. They do not represent the views or opinions of the Union, its staff, editorial board or adviser.
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Campus Insight – WIT: where technology and women meet
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