Takeaways from RCC’s Women of Color in STEM event

A career in STEM can be lucrative, but it isn’t always one that women consider. 

“While we’ve made great progress in fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for our students, we are dedicated to continuing to bridge the STEM Gap through efforts such as this discussion today,” stated RCC President Melissa Singler. “Our goal today is to inspire more women to go into STEM as there are so many great opportunities that exist.”

Robeson Community College offers a variety of STEM-related career paths, including information technology, electrical systems, mechatronics, nursing, a wide range of health-related programs, and many more.

“There is money in STEM,” stated Hilda Pinnix-Ragland. “There’s a lot of great paying jobs out there.”

Pinnix-Ragland is a business executive whose career has spanned various industries, including energy, educational, and community organizations. She has worked to bring new strategies and processes to enhance effectiveness.

No matter your journey, she said, it’s important to remember, “It’s not where you start, it’s where you end, that’s important.”

“Know you are capable,” added Carol Boom, as she spoke to students. Boom, an engineer at Wolfspeed, said she knows the struggles that can come with being a woman of color in a male-dominated industry. 

“Very early in my career, I had a taste of the glass ceiling,” Boom said. “I noticed that my co-workers, males, they were all getting promoted, they were all getting big pay raises, and me nothing. Nothing at all.”

“So what did I do?” Boom asked. “I worked harder. I stayed late. I worked overtime, and what happened? Nothing. They were still getting the raises and still getting the promotions, so yes, that was a pain of the glass ceiling, a very early lesson learned.”

“Glass ceilings, glass ceilings have been with me all of my life,” stated Hilda Pinnix-Ragland. “It hasn’t been as easy for others, it’s clearly been a challenge, but it’s not one I wasn’t ready for even as a child.”

“I’ve been the first woman, the first person of color many times, but that didn’t derail me,” Pinnix Ragland said on stage. “I work my smartest and hardest to bring women along the way.”

Pinnex told of how being the first came with many unexpected scenarios.

“There were very few women on Wall Street, they just didn’t have them,” she said. “There were no women mentors or mentees in the Energy sector, they didn’t have them in auditing firms… I once went into a coal mine, but had to get approval for a woman and for a person of color to go in and do an audit, imagine that?”

Once she recalled attending an economic development meeting in Robeson County, and she was again the first woman and the first woman of color to do so, and she was asked why she was there. Her response?

“I’m here to bring more jobs, to help increase the tax base, just like everyone else,” Pinnix-Ragland said. “Even going into operations, I was the first woman, but there were no bathrooms for women and you had to work out the in the field.”

“For Hilda, if you can see it, you can be it,” stated Sunny Myers, the senior diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) business partner for product who has held many roles in electrical engineering. “I didn’t have a woman of color that I could look up to in that capacity, so when asked what do you want to be when you grow up, I just say, I just want to be Hilda.”

“It is very important to have that support system,” Myers said. “Having these allies, mentors, and sponsors, they are way makers, they literally have helped me shatter these glass ceilings so I could be who I was… they picked me up when I wanted to just leave a career in STEM.”

“Hilda was my #1 mentor,” said Myers. “It is critical to have people like her, as well as male sponsors, around.”

“I want to break glass ceilings so that you don’t have to,” Myers said. “And I want you to go break glass ceilings so the next generation doesn’t have to… keep extending the ladder back down.”

“We just need more women of all colors in STEM,” stated Louis McIntyre as he moderated the session. “What impact has the glass ceiling had on money for women of color in STEM,” Louis asked.

“The pay gap… it drives me crazy,” Pinnix-Ragland said. “We are supposed to make the same, for the same performance, but that doesn’t happen…. It makes no sense.”

Pinnix-Ragland said that she is co-chairing a board to help close what she calls the “wealth gap” to ensure more equity and equality. She is also on a mission to get more women of color on corporate boards.

But they all say, men have to be allies in the fight. It’s could be their wife, daughter, sister, mother, aunt, girlfriend, or even their Grandma that isn’t being paid equally.

“The pay gap is real,” said Boom.

“When you are made a job offer, do your homework online,” Pinnix-Ragland said. “There are websites where you can see what the average pay should be… it will list the high and low ranges, ask for the high pay rate, and ask for more vacation time… you will get it.”

“Don’t be afraid to ask for more money,” Myers said. “Don’t just accept the job on the first offer. Ever.”