“I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win, because we are tough as hell.” GWIS Women in STEM Faculty Panel

By ELISA TURNER

On March 31, 2026, the Girls and Women in Science (GWIS) organization hosted a Faculty Panel in the Powerhouse Stack. The panel posited questions to key speakers Dr. Disda Shende, Dr. Britt Scharringhausen, Dr. Helen Werner, and Dr. Katherine Harris. Throughout the event, GWIS representatives asked questions to panelists, whose responses not only answered pressing questions facing women in STEM today, but advised attendees as to how to navigate a historically male-dominated field in today’s social and political climate. 

On the topic of community, Dr. Disha Shende, Assistant Professor of Economics and Co-Chair of the Data Science and Data Analytics Department, advised attendees, “Diversify your friendship portfolio.” She emphasized the importance of having support and friendship from peers in non-STEM fields. “Talk, share, and be honest about what you’re going through,” advised Dr. Britt Scharringhausen, Department Chair of Physics. Within the topic of community, the idea of mentorship came into play. “There’s not always women or non-binary [mentors] around,” said Dr. Katherine Harris, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science. Dr. Harris emphasized the importance of finding a mentor who, first and foremost, worked well with the advisee. “Seek out places you can be around like-minded people, and you and those like-minded people can make change,” said Dr. Helen Werner, Assistant Professor of Biology.

“We have to take active initiative to increase representation of women in STEM,” said Dr. Shende on the topic of representation and equity. Dr. Harris echoed her sentiments, saying, “You don’t stumble into equity… We’re not gonna change representation just by chance… We have to be intentional if we want representation of certain groups of people.”

Towards the end of the panel, questions from GWIS representatives centered around the struggles that women in STEM face. “The reality of being an underrepresented group in STEM is… sometimes bad things are gonna happen to you, or to people you know,” said Dr. Harris. Dr. Scharringhausen brought up the normalization of hiring discrimination based on the flimsy preconception that young women in STEM are certain to have a child and leave their field, arguing, “We’re physicists. We can count things. How many women have a baby and leave the field? Give me a number.” 

Still, panelists demonstrated great hope for the future of women in science. Dr. Werner reflected on how she got into bioarchaeology while maintaining a family. On the topic of balancing her family and career, she said,  “I could have a life, and be a scientist, whatever that meant to me.” Dr. Scharringhausen, too, reflected on her own experiences and how it paved the way for her hope presently, saying “I have a chance to create space, forge a path, or just try to change the culture to make it better for the women who come after me,” and “I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win, because we are tough as hell.” Dr. Harris holds hope for the future because of  her experiences with her students– “The students in my classroom are so much kinder than the students around me growing up.”