President Kyle joins students promoting women in technology

Sit-With-Me-2
Radford University President Penelope W. Kyle with students and faculty from the Department of Information Technology.

Radford University President Penelope W. Kyle was the featured guest at an April 6 event that promoted women in technology.

According the organization “Sit With Me,” there is only one woman for every three men employed in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics job, despite rapid growth in the technology sector. “Sit With Me” events are is designed to help address that issue.

A single red chair can be a powerful tool in changing lives.  As the symbol of the “Sit With Me” organization, the red chair encourages women and men to validate and recognize the important role women play in technology by taking a small, but symbolic action: sitting down and sharing their story.

The Radford University event was sponsored by the RU Women in Computing Club (WCC) and the campus chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM).

“President Kyle really spoke a lot about finding faculty who would bring out the best in us,” said WCC President Jess Astacio. “That really stuck out for me, because you really do experience that at Radford.”

Jude Armstrong, another member of WCC agreed. For her, faculty members have helped make all the difference.

“Without the encouragement of our faculty, I might have switched concentrations out of Computer Science,” Armstrong said. “We have amazing faculty who go above and beyond to make sure every interested student is successful.”

“Sit With Me” was created by members of the National Center for Women and Information Technology, a non-profit coalition that works to increase diversity in computing and IT.

Learn more at the Sit With Me website.

Sit_With_Me1

Apr 8, 2016