The University’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, SWE, hosted the Women Impacting Style in Engineering, or WISE, Dinner and Style Show last night in the Lod Cook Alumni Center.
The WISE show was open to all female students majoring in engineering, computer science and construction management. It was sponsored by Halliburton and co-hosted by Jada Lewis, assistant dean of the College of Engineering.
The show occurred a month after the release of a study led by researchers from Columbia Business School that shows employers are more likely to hire men for STEM jobs than women, even when candidates of both genders perform equally well on arithmetic and scientific tasks.
The researchers attributed this partially to societal bias and partially to the idea that women undersell themselves in job interviews.
SWE intends to reduce this bias by changing employers’ perceptions of women and teaching women how best to present themselves in professional settings.
SWE welcomed more than 120 participants to WISE, which functioned as both a networking event and a fashion showcase.
In the first hour of the event, students talked to employers from technology and engineering firms throughout Baton Rouge and built professional connections with executives and fellow students alike.
The networking session was followed by an informal dinner, during which students discussed the experiences they’ve had as women working in a male-dominated field.
The dinner led into a speech from keynote speaker Cindy Bigner, Halliburton’s chief officer of diversity affairs. She used her experience to give women tips about professionalism and self-promotion.
In her speech, Bigner recognized that a lack of diversity still plagues the STEM disciplines, particularly in engineering. Bigner stressed the importance of programs like WISE that address these issues and attributed rising levels of female employment in Halliburton to the success of these programs.
The main event of the night was a fashion showcase, during which students modelled various outfits appropriate for a variety of professional situations. One model strutted down the runway in a bright yellow jacket and cobalt blue pants. A woman wearing a shocking pink construction suit, complete with a pink protective helmet, followed her.
Lewis said the showcase served two purposes: to teach women about professionalism in ways they could not learn in a classroom and to show they could embrace diversity and femininity, even in a field predominately populated by men.
Many students agreed SWE has taken the right steps in addressing the problem of gender bias in the STEM disciplines. Biological engineering senior Linda Cross said she believes programs like WISE can continue to be effective in the future as long as they identify and tackle the right issues.
“‘You women are really talented, here’s how to sell yourself’ is something that needs to be taught more,” Cross said.
“It’s important that women know they don’t need to give up who they are to be successful engineers.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Angela Major

An engineering student at LSU models a business appropriate outfit Wednesday March 19, 2014, during the Women Impacting Style in Engineering (WISE) event in the LSU Faculty Club.