Kirsten Richey and Shanyn Bowen are self-professed “chick nerds,” girls into technology.
“We realize that men don’t rule the world,” said Richey, a sophomore at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora who wants to work in animation.
The girls were among about 570 Colorado high school and community college students at the “Young Women in Science and Technology Retreat” at the Broomfield Omni Interlocken Resort on Tuesday. The event, coordinated by DeVry University and Front Range Community College, encourages girls to choose careers in medicine, computers, business and science.
“Girls tend to be users of technology, and they assume that guys are the creators of technology,” said Shari Meisel, DeVry’s community college transfer coordinator. “It’s all about empowering, informing and connecting. They’re entering one of the most critical decision-making times in their lives.”
The students wanted to know what salaries they can expect after college, how to balance career and family and whether it’s OK to wear open-toe shoes to a job interview.
The retreat began with the girls plugging wires into circuit boards to make night lights and ended with a fashion show of the hottest trends in business suits, snake-skin pumps and accessorizing scarves and beads.
Cheryl D’Epaghier, a Golden High School senior, plans to become a doctor, but she doesn’t want to wait until she finishes eight years of college to start a family. She’s determined to have both at the same time.
At her high school, D’Epaghier said, it seems guys get more excited about science and technology classes. “Maybe people think sciences are more masculine – like in chemistry, blowing stuff up,” she said.
Jeri Gomez, head of information technology for Coca-Cola in Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico, told the girls they don’t need academic smarts to succeed, just motivation.
“No one can really mentor you unless it’s within you,” she said.
At DeVry’s three Colorado campuses, 60 percent of students majoring in technology are men, and the number of men is highest in electrical engineering, said Cecil Horst, president of DeVry in Colorado.
The science retreat drew about 250 students at its debut in February. DeVry plans to make it an annual fall event.
Toward the end of the afternoon, girls craned their necks toward the front of a banquet room to watch college women model business suits paired with pumps and boots.
Dana Lynch, a fashion consultant, said a perfectly coordinated outfit translates to “credibility and capability on the job.”
“This would be a good suit for a very formal job interview,” she said, describing a malachite suit with a no-iron blouse. “I think she’s going to get that job.”
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
