Bridging the Engineering Gender Gap

Couple aims to help women in engineering graduate

by Taylor Villanueva | Photo courtesy of Mike and Keri Hammons

Cal Poly alumnus Mike Hammons and his wife, Keri, wanted to do something that would benefit the future of engineering, so they thought systematically about how to help while making the biggest impact.

“We aren’t producing enough engineers,” Mike said. “How do we improve that? There’s a whole part around STEM education getting people interested in engineering and STEM at earlier stages — middle school, high school. Then, once you get people into engineering, how do you ensure you have higher graduation rates?”

Mike explained that he didn’t want the cost of higher education tuition to be an obstacle for future engineers, so he and Keri created an endowment.

“The last thing I want to see is a student not making it through because they couldn’t afford to,” Mike said. “We can directly address those who get here and potentially run into financial issues.”

Mike is a managing partner at an investment management firm and has previously served as the CEO of various companies. He also lectures within Cal Poly’s Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department (IME). Keri has a background in psychology and social work. When deciding on which group of individuals to help, Mike and Keri reflected on their experiences in the workforce.

“My experience was always that the best product or solution I got out of a team was from a team that was diverse,” Mike said. “If you could get a team to work well together, the fact that people were bringing different ideas meant the product ended up being much better.”

The couple agreed that women brought a different perspective that was vital to a creative engineering environment.

“If you look at the data and look at the number of women, more women bring additional diversity and viewpoints you wouldn’t normally see,” Mike said.

“Research shows that women in management positions are strong and bring something to the table, specifically innovation and strategy,” Keri said. “Having an engineering degree makes a woman in management an asset to the future of tech.”

That’s why they decided to support the Cal Poly chapter of the

Society of Women Engineers, or SWE, an organization that has members of all gender identities.

SWE strives to provide a voice for members that encourages them to achieve their full potential as engineers and as leaders.

“As a woman within the College of Engineering, it’s difficult to feel you are welcome there and it is a space for you to succeed,” said SWE chapter President Paige Ross.

“The Society of Women Engineers strives to create that space inside the classroom, out in the community and beyond to ensure those who are underrepresented have the resources and support to thrive.”

In addition to Mike’s time lecturing within IME, he has also mentored SWE students. His first-hand experience working with the students only furthered the couple’s decision to create an endowment to support students in SWE.

The Hammons’ endowment will provide scholarships for upperlevel students.

“There’s a cascading effect here,” Mike explained. “We aren’t trying to entice people to attend Cal Poly with this scholarship. We structured this scholarship around later-staged students to help women graduate at a higher rate. The award creates recognition for this person who promotes women in engineering. That, in turn, builds confidence.”

Mike reflects on how few women were in his engineering classes when he attended Cal Poly and how he hopes the scholarships will help change that.

“If we get enough confident women engineers out there in the workplace showing success, that also potentially has an effect on the recruitment issue for middle and high school female students to be interested in STEM and engineering,” Mike said. “The biggest marketing and advertising for women to get interested in STEM early on is because they see successful women out there doing it.” ■