Professor pioneers Women in STEM initiative

Courtesy of the Center of Women’s and Gender Studies

The national average of women in the workforce is 48 percent, that means women comprise almost half of the workforce, however only 24 percent of women are a part of the STEM field.

Over the course of her years at FIU, Yesim Darici, who holds a doctorate in Physics, always tried to increase the number of women and minorities in STEM.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and has been a passion project for Darici over the last 25 years.

“I have been fighting for equality and diversity all my life. It is human rights. The rights of women, LGBTQA, the rights of everyone,” said Darici.

Darici is a well-known figure around FIU. In 1987, she started her career at the University as a physics professor and since 2007, had held the title of director of Women’s and Gender Studies.

“There has never been a scientist as the Women’s and Gender Studies director. There weren’t women physics professors in the state of Florida at all,” explained Darici.

Darici’s list of accomplishments is nothing short of impressive. She was a member of the

Committee on Minorities in Physics in the American Physical Society where she was invited by Yale University to evaluate their working conditions for women.

In 2011, the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies received a grant worth $573,000 from the National Science Foundation to advance women faculty through fostering the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in science and math.

In addition, the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies department received an additional $3.3 million from NSF for the institutional transformation of FIU which Darici says is meant to make FIU a welcoming environment for everyone.

In 2016, Darici received the President’s Access & Equity Award given to her by our own President Rosenberg. Through motivating a group of women faculty, Darici was able to create a plan cultivated to improve institutional planning for women and minority faculty. An honor she lists as one of her greatest achievements besides her constant fight for the empowerment of women.

However, Darici’s success didn’t come easily. The male dominance involved in STEM fields discourages women to take part, something Darici had to deal with.

“At the beginning, it was frustrating because my colleagues told me they had never worked with a woman, and in any field when it doesn’t reach the physical mass, there are problems. I faced discrimination,” said Darici. “It was not easy, but you boil an egg and it gets hard. You boil a carrot, it gets soft. I think I was like the egg; I got harder. I feel powerful and strong and I didn’t let them take me down. I fought back and won all my battles.”

The Women in STEM Initiative will provide education on the issues faced by women in STEM fields and resources for enhancing their involvement. These efforts, Darici said, will propel the University to succeed in recruitment efforts and applications for available grants that will strengthen both our faculty and our students.

“We still have a long way to go in order to increase the number of women in STEM disciplines, but through targeted outreach, recruitment, and retention efforts for students and faculty alike, we can open the doors for more women.”

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