Last October, Sophie Russo, Psyc’11, participated in a panel at the University of Missouri-St. Louis highlighting perspectives on the challenges women and minorities face when considering technology for study and employment. Russo earned a master of science degree in management information systems from UMSL in 2016.

“You can work in whatever industry you would like to work in as a computer professional,” Russo says. “If you’re interested in fashion … you don’t have to be in the fashion industry as a designer; you can be in the fashion industry as a programmer if that’s what interests you.”

Russo also talked about the importance of introducing technology-related fields to kids before they get to college. “By the time you get to college, you have an idea of where your life is going to go, so if you can make that impression earlier, I think that that’s really where it lacks,” Russo says. “You don’t really aspire to be something you can’t see or picture yourself being.”