GSM Student Profile: Megan Sumner

Today we are focusing on another amazing student in the GSM program! Megan Sumner is an active student here at Bloomsburg University. She offers her own unique insight from being in the STEM field and within the GSM.

What are your preferred pronouns?

My pronouns are she/her/hers.

Where are you from?

I am actually from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. I've lived here my whole life.

What is your major? Do you have any minors?

I am a dual Computer Science and Digital Forensics major with a minor in Gender Studies. I decided to pick up the minor after having a friend speak highly about the courses in the program.

Are you involved in any other clubs or organizations on campus?

I’m involved in Phi Sigma Pi, a National Honor Fraternity, where I hold a position as Fundraising Chair.

Pictured: Megan Sumner

How has being a student in the GSM program benefited your academic and social experiences on campus? Have these classes changed, shaped, or broadened your perspective?

Being a part of the GSM program has extremely broadened my horizons. I’ve had the opportunity to take classes in so many different departments, like English, Sociology, and even Nursing, that I never would’ve gotten otherwise. These courses gave me knowledge in areas that I would not have gotten in my own major. I’d highly recommend everyone take at least one GSM course.

What has been your favorite class while being in the GSM program? Why?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every class that I’ve taken in the GSM program, but my favorite class was Marriage & Family with Dr. Megumi Omori. I’m currently enrolled in this course and I’ve learned a lot about the sociology behind marriage, childrearing, and relationships. I find the material very interesting and again, it is something I never would have learned in my own major.

Do you have a particular project GSM related that you're proud to have been apart of or work on?

I’m currently conducting research with Dr. Francis into the gender gap in computer science. The objective of my research is to locate factors that contribute to the gender gap and propose potential solutions to eliminate the gender gap in university programs. My research is a topic that affects me personally, since I’m usually the only woman in my computer classes. My academic advisor suggested the research topic to me since it is a great link between my major and my minor.

Throughout the semester, I’ve been reading books, scholarly articles, and journals about the topic and conducting interviews with Computer Science and Digital Forensics students at Bloomsburg University. It’s been a wonderful, eye-opening experience that has helped me learn a lot about my major. In the future, I’d like to use the information I learn to encourage young girls going into a STEM career.

What is the most interesting thing you have discovered through your research?
One book I read for my research was Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing by
Allan Fisher and Jane Margolis. Something Fisher and Margolis found that really stuck with me was that men often attribute their success to hard work and their failure to external sources, while women often attribute their success to luck and their failure to not working hard enough. Thus, when women do poorly in a computer science course, they believe they lack the necessary skills to be successful in the program. When men do poorly, they attribute that to an external source, like the professor being difficult, or the test being too hard. Things like this are obstacles for young women entering the program that never occurred to me beforehand. Since I began conducting interviews, I’ve noticed sentiments from my reading are being echoed by students at Bloomsburg University. This makes all the reading I did that much more interesting and relevant.

What encouraged you to pursue a career in the STEM field?
Growing up, I always enjoyed math, science, and computer courses. In high school, I took almost every computer class that was offered. Most of these focused on graphic design, which at the time, was what I wanted to pursue. My junior year of high school, I was accepted into the STEM program at Bloomsburg University, which allowed me to take college courses alongside my high school courses. I was in the engineering tract (even though I never had any intention of being an engineer) and was placed into Object-Oriented Programming with Java my first semester in the program. This course was my first experience with programming and I immediately fell in love. Prior to this course, I had never even thought about pursuing computer science.

What kind(s) of job(s) are you interested in after you graduate? How might your Gender Studies Minor help you in your future?
After graduation, I will be working as a Software Engineer at KLDiscovery. There are extremely few women in the technology industry, and there are many conferences, organizations, and camps aimed at recruiting more women and young girls. In the future, I would love to be a part of one of these events to help get more young women involved in STEM fields. I believe the knowledge from my minor, and my research, will help me get involved in that process.

It is very important to showcase what GSM students accomplish here at Bloomsburg University. There are many ways students use the GSM for their professional careers, as well as worldly growth.

Always and forever,
Jose Gamboa