Women in STEM – Changing the Dialogue on Recruitment and Retention

Giti Javidi, Ph.D., is used to feeling like the odd man – or woman – out. 

Throughout her undergraduate and graduate studies in computer science, Giti was often the lone woman in the class.  Familiar feelings of isolation followed Giti throughout her career and continued as she was the only female faculty member in computer science at Virginia State University’s College of Engineering for 11 years. In August 2016, she joined the College of Business at the University of South Florida (USF) Sarasota-Manatee as an assistant professor of information technology.

Giti’s story might sound familiar.  Indicated by the countless organizations dedicated to increasing the number of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, technical roles are still largely male-dominated.  In 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor reported women represented just 26 percent of the STEM workforce.  While this data also shows a significant increase from just 7 percent in 1970, there is clearly still work to be done. 

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