Since 1987, March has been designated Women’s History Month to celebrate and recognize the contributions of women in American history. This tradition began in 1910 with the observation of March 8 as International Women’s Day and expanded in 1978 as Women’s History Week and as more and more cities joined in the celebrations. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter officially declared the week of March 8 “National Women’s History Week,” and Congress extended this week-long celebration into a month-long one in 1987.
As a male-dominated institution with a ratio of roughly 30:70, it is important for Stevens to support and recognize its minority populations, specifically the women on campus for this month in particular. As such, Stevens has a number of student organizations focused on empowering and supporting women and nonbinary students. One such organization is Stevens Women in Business (SWIB), a professional society that includes over 250 students and aims to foster professional development and educate its members on the contemporary issues of the modern world of business.
SWIB’s E-board consists of 3/4 Finance Major Tanishka Kapoor as President, 3/4 Quantitative Finance Major Angela Jomson as Vice President, 2/4 Business and Technology major Noga Tesler as Treasurer, 2/3 Business and Technology major Audrey Yoo as Secretary, 2/4 Business and Technology major Aylin Erda as Member at Large, 2/3 Business and Technology major Chelsea Byun as Professional Chair, and 2/4 Business and Technology major Pooja Patel as Outreach chair. Past SWIB events have included Resume and Career Workshops, Movie Nights, a Personal Finance GBM, an Alumni Dinner networking event, and Coffee Chats, among many others.
President Tanishka Kapoor’s journey as a finance student started when she realized that financials affect and impact virtually every aspect of the world. She joined SWIB to find a community on campus, and her interests revolve around the intersectionality of economics and public policies. Kapoor finds inspiration in “the many strong, independent women in my family, especially my mom, who has always taught me the importance of financial independence,” she shared. Similar to Kapoor, Member at Large Aylin Erdal decided to pursue business and technology because of the dominance of finance in the world. Her ultimate goal is to “help people with their finances so they can continue living and continue becoming better versions of themselves,” she said. Erdal joined SWIB to meet other women who shared her passions and could support and assist her along the way. She emphasized a speaker event with Deepali Vyas during the 2023-2024 academic year that particularly stuck with her, during which Vyas shared her story behind having a strong support system to becoming a female entrepreneur with a family and duties beyond her career, highlighting the resources SWIB brings to its members.
Before coming to Stevens, Secretary Audrey Yoo studied software engineering and was a Kode with Klossy alumni, but she ultimately decided to major in Business and Technology. Yoo joined SWIB because the workshops and events are specifically tailored to women and college students, providing a support system in which learning is facilitated. Yoo highlighted the underclassmen of SWIB, saying, “I look up to all the freshmen, or just the underclassmen who joined SWIB. Just seeing how eager they are to learn, the questions that they ask, the confidence that they bring to come up to us e-board members, and just attending our events in general is something that inspires me and keeps me going.”
Each e-board member has their own inspirations, passions, and goals they hope to achieve both during and beyond their time at Stevens, but for Women’s History Month, they particularly want to “have this month where we all come together and celebrate even though we know things might be hard, but we have each other’s back,” Kapoor said. The e-board plans to collaborate with other women-centric orgs and industry experts to strengthen social and professional support networks. For this month, SWIB will be holding several events to bring its members together with a Self Defense seminar on March 4, a Movie Night on March 11, and a speaker event on March 25 featuring Jamie Higgins, a previous managing director at Goldman Sachs and author of Bully Market: My Story of Money and Misogyny at Goldman Sachs.
In collaboration with Stevens Women in Computer Science and Society of Women Engineers, SWIB will also be hosting an annual Women’s Gala on March 28 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in UCC Techflex to celebrate Women’s History Month with formal attire and a night of networking. Signups have begun, and tickets are available on a first come, first serve basis.
There will be accomplished Stevens alumni and other speakers at the event who “make us proud to be women at Stevens,” Kapoor said. Women’s History Month serves as a vital reminder to reflect upon and continue creating spaces where women’s voices and accomplishments are celebrated. Through their events and presence on campus, SWIB continues to honor the legacy of those who came before them and empowers the future generation towards success.
