Purdue News

From the summer 2003 edition of Purdue Engineering Extrapolations

Diversity

Finding a connection at Purdue

Kelsi Bracmort, a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, knew Purdue was for her as soon as she set foot on campus for her graduate-school interview. "I applied to 10 graduate schools and visited four," she says, "and I decided to go with the department I felt most comfortable with." After meeting with Bernie Engel and Jane Frankenberger, who would become her major professors, Bracmort says she knew that Purdue was the one.

Kelsi Bracmort
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And when she had the opportunity to join the graduate mentoring program for women in engineering, Bracmort took advantage of it: "It’s a series of forums for female graduate engineering students. I could tell the program was definitely going to be of benefit to me. There’s a monthly dinner with a speaker, and the subjects cover everything from networking to passing prelims to financial planning to surviving in an all-male environment. There are plenty of opportunities for informal social activities during the year, too."

For her doctoral degree–she has already earned an MS from Purdue in environmental and natural resources–Bracmort is researching the long-term impacts of water-quality conservation practices in the Black Creek watershed near Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s a long way from her Fort Washington, Maryland, home, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

"When I first came to Purdue, I felt isolated, but the Women in Engineering Program has helped me to make the transition," says Bracmort, who has served on the mentoring program’s leadership team. "I like the program because it gives me strength and motivation to go on. The speakers are alums of Purdue’s Schools of Engineering and set great examples, demonstrating it is possible to succeed career-wise in the engineering world and how they came out on top. It’s continued motivation that I can do it, too."

Purdue’s Women in Engineering Program and its counterpart, the Minority Engineering Program, have been providing that motivation–and sense of belonging–for decades. Diversity forums for faculty and staff, aimed at warming up the climate for underrepresented students and faculty, have reached some 220 participants in five years.

"Purdue is making strides," says Bracmort. "You always hear people ask, How can we get women and minorities to stay? It takes someone having a genuine concern for you, recognizing your differences, and understanding that they’re valuable."

Writer: Lisa Hunt Tally

Photo: Vincent Walter