From hands-on programming activities to controlling robots to drawing prototypes of what they would invent, the daughters and sons of TIers recently enjoyed an exciting day with their parents at work. As an engineer by education and the leader of our Embedded Processing business unit, I understand our future as a company depends on building the pipeline of talent to continue delivering innovations that set our company apart.
This is why an event like our annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work day is so important. We hope to spark the imagination in kids, showing them that engineering is not some esoteric thing. Our goal is to open their eyes a bit, giving them exposure to the real concepts that result from science, technology, engineering and math subjects.
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Not all students have parents in engineering fields, which is why we also invited a group of young ladies from Girls Inc., a non-profit organization we work with, to participate in our event. These impressionable girls received great experience with hands-on programming from our engineers, helping them see what we do in our daily jobs and what their future could possibly look like. In the past year, women comprised less than 15 percent of engineering graduates. We need more young women in engineering, and it was so encouraging to see our women engineers showing these girls what is possible.
As a parent of five children, I’ve continually emphasized that while STEM subjects may be more difficult at first, having the discipline to take these courses can help them build a foundation and allow them to do more than they ever thought possible. Also, showcasing STEM activities in fun, exciting ways at events like this, we continue to build awareness in STEM fields with our own children, as well as students in the community. You never know. One of these events could create the small spark needed to ignite a future career in engineering.