At her first round of jobs working for government intelligence, Elizabeth Liddy would scribble the ratio of men to women in the corner of her agenda. It was here she noticed a gap, a wide one, with a ratio of about 98 to two — she being one half of the latter.

“I didn’t realize it was unusual, and I would just think of myself as one of many, many women who have over the years quietly gone about and done what they’ve really cared about not always realizing it was fairly unique,” said Liddy, dean of Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. “When I started counting I realized oh yeah, we are different here.”

With more than 20 years of involvement in the iSchool, where in 1988 she earned her Ph.D. in information transfer, Liddy was honored as a trailblazer with the STEM Enrichment Award at the YWCA of Syracuse and Onondaga County annual Spirit of American Women event on Nov. 3.

The award, presented to three women in the city, including graduate student Tatiana Williams, celebrated women who excel in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Liddy is the founder of the software startup company TextWise, an active member in the National Center for Women and Information Technology and the faculty adviser for Women and Information Technology, an on-campus female empowerment organization for women in tech.

Women make up half of the total U.S. college-educated workforce, but only 29 percent of the science and engineering workforce, according to the National Girls Collaborative Project. As an educator, Liddy has made it a priority to support female involvement in STEM, and under her the number of female students in the iSchool has risen to 38 percent, she said.

This, in part, is a result of The IT Girls recruitment night held every fall for high school students, where 100 girls from New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and Syracuse are bused in for a 27-hour immersion into the spectrum of possible fields in STEM. In recent years, and with the growth of the program, girls interested in in the event have come independently from places like Texas, California and Ohio.

Currently, there are more than 70 IT Girls alumni at SU where they are represented in every school, besides architecture. Exposure, Liddy said, is sometimes the key to getting girls in tech.

“It’s incredibly successful,” said Stephanie Worden, undergraduate recruiter in the iSchool.

As the dean, Liddy allows the recruitment staff the ability to pursue ideas that are risky or imperfect, and with that the staff can learn and grow from their mistakes and failures, Worden said. To those in the enrollment office and to Liddy, it’s important for women to get these opportunities in STEM and that they feel supported and capable in male-dominated classes and once they get into the industry.

These efforts work to close the gap she scribbled on her agenda when she first entered the field years ago.

“What I do, I don’t think is huge,” Liddy said. “Just be there, be supportive, encourage them, reward them, compliment them, support them and if they’re brave enough to try it, you know, good for them. I think if women see women who are successful, take them seriously, and then in turn they will take themselves seriously.”

Published on November 17, 2016 at 9:28 pm

Contact: kasotelo@syr.edu