Finding Your Seat in The Room
Join us & women leaders in STEM for the 8th Annual International Women’s Day Symposium.
About the Event:
Although women make up nearly half the United States’ workforce, they remain under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, particularly at advanced career stages and in leadership. Recent data shows that women earn 53% of STEM-related Bachelor’s degrees and 58% of all Bachelor’s degrees; however, they make up only 28% of the STEM workforce.
The theme of our 8th annual Chicago Women in STEM Symposium is Finding Your Seat in the Room. This event aims to address the disappointing statistics regarding the representation of women in STEM-related careers by hosting a variety of speakers who will share their stories and provide valuable information about resilience, empowerment, and breaking through both visible and invisible barriers in STEM.
Please join us at the International Women’s Day Symposium! The symposium provides opportunities to interact with representatives from our initiative’s partner and sponsor organizations in industry, academia, law, and local non-profits.
Date: Thursday, March 6th, 2025
Time: 2 PM- 7 PM [Doors open at 1:30 PM]
Location: Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine SQBRC Potocsnak Family Atrium , 303 E Superior St Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| Event Description | Start Time | End Time | Location |
| On-site Registration Networking with Industry and Professional Partners | 1:30 pm | 2:00 pm | Potocsnak Family Atrium, SQBRC |
| Welcome and Opening Remarks Kathryn Jackson-Jones, PhD – Postdoctoral Researcher, Northwestern University & International Women’s Day Symposium Committee Chair, Chicago Women in STEM Initiative Maya Walker – PhD Candidate, Northwestern University & President of Chicago Women in STEM Initiative | 2:00 pm | 2:10 pm | Hughes Auditorium, Lurie 1-133 |
| Interactive Workshop: Utilising AI in STEM Workshop Leader: Catherine Gao, MD, MS | 2:10 pm | 2:55 pm | Hughes Auditorium, Lurie 1-133 |
| Coffee Break Networking with Industry and Professional Partners | 2:55 pm | 3:10pm | Potocsnak Family Atrium, SQBRC |
| Keynote Speaker: Suzanne Provanzana, PE, SE | 3:10 pm | 4:10 pm | Hughes Auditorium, Lurie 1-133 |
| Panel and Q&A with Local Women Leaders in STEM Panelist: Jenny Kopach Panelist: Lisa Gilbert, MS Panelist: Heather Walsh, PhD | 4:10 pm | 5:00 pm | Hughes Auditorium, Lurie 1-133 |
| Networking Reception | 5:00 pm | 7:00 pm | Potocsnak Family Atrium, SQBRC |
Thank you to our sponsors!
Chicago Women in STEM Symposium is being supported by generous donors such as: Northwestern’s The Graduate School, Northwestern’s Masters of Science in Law program, Women in Bio, University of Illinois at Chicago’s Graduate College, and Science Olympiad + Million Women Mentors. Other donors include: Northwestern’s Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program (IBiS), and Proteintech.