HerStory is Our Story: Creating a Legacy Through Engineering and Other STEM Entrepreneurship

在大多数工程学研究领域，有色人种女性在高等教育中的代表性不足。他们在整个工程劳动力中的代表性也往往不足。美国小企业管理局过去的一份报告表明，女性STEM博士学位获得者参与创业活动的可能性较小，例如拥有一家企业。该项目的调查人员，包括科学技术性别平等中心和亚利桑那州立大学创业创新办公室的支持，将组织一个为期2天半的，妇女的颜色科学，技术，工程与数学（STEM）创业大会，分享不同的STEM创业机会，为有色人种女性提供，并展示有色人种女性企业家的成功在工程和其他STEM领域。重点放在三个主要方面（即，会议将包括六个全体会议，四个分组会议，包括研讨会和小组对话，以及建立网络和提供导师机会。会议将为有色人种女性与会者提供重要信息，打破神话，突出往往扼杀有色人种女性STEM创业精神的重要陷阱。三个目标将塑造会议：（a）增加有色人种妇女在STEM创业经验和小企业中的参与;（B）推进创业教育和创业学生参与;（c）改变创业的方式，特别是工程创业，在高等教育中被看待，教授和体验。将收集和分析定性数据，以确定会议对与会者的影响，并衡量会议是否达到预期目标。根据定性数据收集结果，将制定和传播战略，以帮助高等教育机构和STEM行业鼓励和支持有色人种妇女，特别是她们的创业努力。

Within most engineering fields of study, women of color are underrepresented in higher education. They also tend to be underrepresented throughout the engineering workforce. A past report from the U.S. Small Business Administration illustrated that female STEM PhD recipients are less likely to participate in entrepreneurial activity, such as owning a business. The project's investigators, comprising the support of the Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology and Office of Entrepreneurship + Innovation at Arizona State University, will organize a 2 1/2-day, Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Entrepreneurship Conference to share different STEM entrepreneurial opportunities available to women of color and showcase the successes of women of color entrepreneurs in engineering and other STEM fields. Focused on three major strands (i.e., entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and implicit bias), the conference will comprise six plenary sessions, four breakout sessions featuring seminars and group dialogues, and networking and mentorship opportunities. The conference will offer women of color attendees important information that shatter myths and highlight important pitfalls that often stifle STEM entrepreneurship among women of color. Three objectives will shape the conference: (a) increasing the participation of women of color in STEM entrepreneurial experiences and small business enterprise; (b) advancing entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial student engagement; and (c) transforming the ways that entrepreneurship, in general, and engineering entrepreneurship, in particular, are viewed, taught and experienced in higher education. Qualitative data will be collected and analyzed to determine the impact of the conference on attendees and gauge if the conference achieved the intended objectives. From the qualitative data collection findings, strategies will be developed and disseminated to help institutions of higher learning and the STEM industry with encouraging and supporting women of color, especially with their entrepreneurial endeavors.