“Chemical engineering is one of the most challenging curriculums in the engineering field. According to ASEE 2015 data, only about one-third of chemical engineering bachelor’s degrees and 10% of chemical engineering PhDs go to women,” states Jean Tom, Group Director of development engineering, chemical and synthetics development, and research and development (R&D) at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). “If we can reach some fraction of these students early in their undergraduate career, and they can envision what someone might do with the degree, we might be able to inspire young women to pursue the field and ultimately help move those statistics upwards,” she says. To achieve this goal, Jean has coordinated the Women in Chemical Engineering Event at BMS for the past three years. This year’s event took place on July 18, 2016, at the BMS New Brunswick, NJ, facility.
“I came up with the idea three years ago, after I received several requests in a short timespan to meet with female undergraduate chemical engineering students who were interning at BMS or were daughters of BMS employees,” she explains. “I thought having an event with many women chemical engineers would give these students a better picture of what it’s like...
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