Corinne Heiberger (IE 08) understands firsthand the importance of having a mentor in the workplace. When she took a job as a plant engineer in Utah, she became the first female engineer at that site. And it wasn’t easy.
“It took a lot of work to become a part of that team,” she said. “I definitely had pranks pulled on me on a regular basis. But thankfully I had great mentors who helped me through.”
It wasn’t the first or last time she’d be the only woman in the room. It started when she was an industrial engineering student at South Dakota Mines. While this remains a reality for many women STEM students, one big difference on the Mines campus is the Women in Science & Engineering (WiSE) Program.
Corinne has been director of WiSE since Fall of 2020. The program’s purpose is to educate, recruit, retain, graduate academically motivated women in STEM fields. Aside from having a dedicated space on campus, WiSE has several core programs that support its students – peer mentoring, panel discussions with women in industry, an orientation for incoming students, a formal networking dinner with industry representatives who are on campus for the career fair, and a new WiSE Scholars program that awards scholarships to a small group of women who are required to meet GPA requirements and complete other assignments such as meet with Corinne for mentoring.
“My professors here were always very supportive, but I know other women who have different stories. We want to be here for all of them - the women who haven’t felt supported and feel stuck in the shadows, while continuing to empower those who have had positive experiences. And we also want to prepare them to be the best they can be in an industry in which they will likely be a minority.”
Retention (fall to fall) of women students at Mines was 90 percent in Fall 2022 – the highest percentage in Mines history. The persistence rate (fall to spring) for women is 96 percent. In Fall 2022, 25 percent of incoming first-year students were women, compared to 15 percent when Corinne was a student.
“WiSE wasn’t here when I was a student, and it would have been great to be able to go somewhere to just feel welcome and be reminded that there ARE a lot of other women on campus. These resources and the programming have made women feel a little safer on campus and more confident.”
Her favorite part of working with the WiSE program is mentoring students.
“I love when I get to help them solve a problem or think through a job offer. I think it’s so rewarding because I remember how all those things felt. I remember how stressful those things can be. And when they come to my office to tell me they accepted a job offer, that’s so great because we both know this is a challenging school, so it’s something worth celebrating!”
International Day of Women & Girls in Science is Feb. 11, and this month we’re celebrating the impact the women students, faculty and staff have had on the Mines campus, including Corrine.
“The biggest thing I want all of our students to know is that they are here for a reason, and that there is someone here to support them in it.” Thank you to all of the individual donors and corporate sponsors who support the WiSE program. If you are interested in being an alumni or industry mentor, contact Corinne.Heiberger@sdsmt.edu or Wise@sdsmt.edu.
For more information about WiSE, scroll down to watch the January Digital Lunch & Learn.
Below: Corinne and several students gather in the WiSE space on campus, which will soon be located in the Surbeck Center.
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