Women without an early education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) can still find their niche in a STEM-related career.
Just ask Diana Hess, COO of local STEM company Enduralock, who majored in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Kansas and recently completed her MBA in entrepreneurship at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Hess’s roundabout way into a STEM career started when she co-founded Enduralock with her neurosurgeon father, who needed help managing and marketing the company’s vibration-resistant fasteners to the medical industry. The fasteners also have potential applications in the aerospace, construction and automotive sectors.
“The medical industry, that’s where the jobs are, where you’re guaranteed a certain salary or just stability,” Hess said. “For women, I think, having a family is important and on their minds, and working in the medical field gives you a lot of structure and freedom for career and family.”
“And here I am working in the STEM industry. I don’t necessarily have a background in it, but I’m fascinated by it. I learn something every day, which is what I love about what I’m doing.”
Hess isn’t sure if she would go back to college for a STEM degree, “but for people working on the business end, they offer these courses so you can get a better understanding of how everything works technically,” she said. “So I’m certainly going to pursue that.”
Hess plans to take a one-week course at the Fastener Training Institute in Los Angeles.
“You learn everything there is to know about fasteners,” she said. “It’s such a humongous industry. People don’t think about nuts and bolts, but they’re integral to the way that almost everything functions.”
