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PROBLEM SOLVERS by P.J. Hoover

PROBLEM SOLVERS

15 Innovative Women Engineers and Coders

From the Women of Power series

by P.J. Hoover

Pub Date: Sept. 13th, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64160-638-7
Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Profiles of women engineers and coders who overcame obstacles to become leading voices in their fields.

Each profile presents the subject’s challenges and career path while exploring global themes of gender-based disenfranchisement—and empowerment—in STEM fields. The work presents itself as both a guide for girls who want to go into these areas as well as an appeal to those who don’t think they would find them interesting or who might feel discouraged from pursuing them. The chapters, each about 10 pages in length, are based on individual interviews conducted by the engineer author, highlight each woman’s story and accomplishments. The subjects come from a diverse range of backgrounds, highlighting marginalized identities within the field, such as race and disability. Numerous sidebars relating to the women’s backgrounds cover a range of content, some of it broadly useful beyond STEM careers, especially for teens from less privileged backgrounds, such as making a college education financially attainable, understanding the mentor-mentee relationship, escaping an abusive environment, attending college as a young parent, and business card etiquette. The closing chapters offer specific guidance, shepherding readers through preparing for college, different types of engineering and programming jobs, suggested books and movies, and the complexities of advanced degrees. The prose style is friendly, supportive, and informal, making potentially intimidating subject matter less so.

Comprehensive, inclusive, and practical.

(Nonfiction. 12-18)