Jeanine Cook is SC15‘s student programs chair, and a principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories.
Cook is from a family of three girls – all with degrees in electrical engineering.
While she says she loves men – she’s married to one – Cook says she thinks the way men are socialized in the United States predisposes them to some behaviors that aren’t always helpful when it comes to interacting with women in the workplace.
Cook’s advice to young women is to grow a tough shell early, not to take criticism personally and to know that they are in the STEM field because they have earned that position based on competence.
Cooks says liking science and math can totally be a “girl” thing.
Listen to Cook’s full story in the audio player above.
This story originally aired on Nov. 19, 2015.