{"id":3009,"date":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/blog\/signal-magazine-national-security-depends-on-tech-savvy-talent\/"},"modified":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","slug":"signal-magazine-national-security-depends-on-tech-savvy-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/signal-magazine-national-security-depends-on-tech-savvy-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"SIGNAL Magazine: <em>National Security Depends on Tech-Savvy Talent<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From plumbing to space travel, the vast majority of future good-paying jobs will involve technology. Not only will these careers offer regularly increased salaries but also opportunities for advancement and, even more importantly, independence. These are some of Irma Becerra\u0092s beliefs borne of personal experience, a deep passion for technology and a personal purpose in education.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nBecerra\u00a0has gained her experience from when she was in high school and Mrs. Greenberg, one of her senior-year teachers, took the extra time Becerra needed to understand calculus, to her current position as president of\u00a0Marymount University. \u0093When I started college, I started in thinking about science\u0097chemistry, mathematics and computer science, but when I found engineering, I found my passion,\u0094 she explains.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nIt was after college while working at Florida Power and Light as an engineer in charge of coding a computer model to monitor the power system grid reliability that Becerra discovered her purpose\u0097quite accidently. It was the years when\u00a0Total Quality Management\u00a0was on the lips of most corporate managers. Becerra volunteered to become one of the facilitators who examined jobs, processes, predictable outcomes and how to improve them.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n\u0093I really discovered my love for adult education,\u0094 she explains. \u0093I loved my career in engineering, but I found my purpose in academia, and I never turned back. The opportunity to make an impact is why I love my job every day. I look forward to it for that purpose: the opportunity to have an impact for others.\u0094<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nNow, as a university president, Becerra reflects wisely on the changes in the culture, marketplace and opportunities since she joined the workforce in the early 1980s, particularly as they apply to women in STEM.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nCulturally, more women are entering technical fields today. Nearly four decades ago, Becerra often was the only female in her math and engineering courses. A \u0093weed out\u0094 attitude among professors and other students, which expected all students to understand technical material quickly, left many less-fortunate students behind.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n\u0093If you\u0092re studying a career that involves mathematics, every year matters. One year builds on what you learned the year before,\u0094 she points out. For example, a student who doesn\u0092t understand trigonometry struggles with precalculus, which leads to the inability to understand calculus. \u0093So, if one year, you have a teacher that\u0092s not strong, then you\u0092re left with a hole that\u0092s hard to fill,\u0094 she explains.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nBecerra was fortunate to have Mrs. Greenberg in grade 12 for calculus. The teacher not only was willing to spend extra time with her after school but also fought for her to receive the overall highest grade in mathematics, even though Becerra had only been a student at the high school for a single year.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nIn addition, when she began her career, workplace setups were more rigid with set hours that had to be worked onsite and maternity leave was oftentimes limited to four weeks plus two weeks of annual vacation.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nEven the perceptions of STEM fields alienated many from pursuing technical careers. It wasn\u0092t until the geeky, pocket-protector-wearing image of engineers was replaced by one of tech-savvy millionaire entrepreneurs did more young people take a second look at STEM as offering a possible career path.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nTechnology advances have enabled changes in STEM jobs as well. From the ability to work remotely to conducting research via the Internet rather than spending hours in a library, these improvements allow for the flexibility women\u0097and men\u0097need to accommodate other life responsibilities. These changes make STEM fields more attractive to people with a variety of obligations\u0097from raising children to caring for elderly parents.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nCompany policies also have changed. More businesses are willing to allow employees to job share, work flexible job hours or plug in from home, an option COVID-19 has illuminated to the nth degree.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThese transformations in culture and business practices have led to the growth in STEM interest and job opportunities, Becerra relates.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nAnd, increasing the number of STEM specialists in the United States is crucial, she says. \u0093I think it\u0092s an issue of national security and national competitiveness. For us to maintain both, we need to attract women and minorities PERIOD,\u0094 Becerra states.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n\u0093If you\u0092re looking at the population and you\u0092re just going to look at white males, there\u0092s just not enough to support the needs of our country, to keep our competitiveness and to keep our national security,\u0094 she adds. \u0093So, it\u0092s not an issue of \u0091Oh let\u0092s try to be equal.\u0092 It\u0092s an issue of national competitiveness and national security.\u0094<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nMany elements of children\u0092s lives influence career options, including parental involvement, but Becerra points out the need for growth in three areas\u0097good teachers, role models and women of color\u0097entering STEM fields either as practitioners or teachers.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nAnd although many people demonstrate a natural talent with computers, she says formal education is still critical to increasing an individual\u0092s career opportunities. \u0093They have to be able to have a strong education because we don\u0092t know what jobs of the future will look like, but we know they will involve technology,\u0094 Becerra states.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on <a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/URL-Redirects\/090120-Signal\">SIGNAL Magazine&#8217;s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From plumbing to space travel, the vast majority of future good-paying jobs will involve technology. Not only will these careers offer regularly increased salaries but also opportunities for advancement and, even more importantly, independence. These are some of Irma Becerra\u0092s beliefs borne of personal experience, a deep passion for technology and a personal purpose in [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/signal-magazine-national-security-depends-on-tech-savvy-talent\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SIGNAL Magazine: National Security Depends on Tech-Savvy Talent - Marymount University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From plumbing to space travel, the vast majority of future good-paying jobs will involve technology. 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