LaHood Points to STEM Needs for Girls, US Infrastructure

Washington, DC—(Jan. 25, 2012)  On Sunday night, Jan. 22,2012, US Department of Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, addressed an audience of hundreds of members of the professional transportation industry at a reception hosted by WTS International, the association for the advancement of women in the transportation industry.  The reception served as a networking event at the Transportation Research Board’s annual conference and meeting in DC. LaHood’s words pointed to the urgent need to get more of the country’s youth, particularly girls and young women, engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math studies, know as STEM, to help prepare the US for a winning future.

“As we rebuild our nation’s transportation systems, the opportunities for young women are enormous. But here’s the catch: To fill these jobs, we need to prepare young people to seize the opportunities before them.  That means teaching the science, technology, engineering and math skills.  But that also means linking young women with role models and with mentors – and creating a pipeline that will bring a new generation of young women into transportation industries,” said LaHood.

Marcia Ferranto, WTS International’s President and CEO, emphasized that her organization and the US DOT have a common goal. “The skilled talent responsible for innovation in transportation systems is retiring, and the quantity of young talent coming up through STEM education and training paths is dwindling,” she said.  LaHood’s participation at the WTS reception was an appropriate step in generating awareness about solutions that are being created to solve the dilemma of the dwindling transportation talent pool. With the primary goal of growing the female demographic in the transportation industry’s professional leadership roles worldwide, the association is getting the attention it needs from the US’s major players, such as its three lead sponsors AECOM, CH2M Hill, and Parsons Brinckerhoff,  to help move WTS’s strategic plan along. 

“WTS has 48 chapters and more than 5,200 members in the US, Canada, and the UK, and is building presence now in Brazil, India, and the Middle East,” says Ferranto.  “Within each chapter we encourage the continuing education of women in professional roles in the transportation industry with training, the advancement of women through the ranks with mentorships and networking, and now, in partnership with the US Department of Transportation, we’ve set our program for young women aged 13 – 18 years in motion.”

The program Ferranto refers to, called Transportation YOU, is designed to encourage girls to focus studies in the STEM, disciplines, which are losing ground in popularity and at the core of concern for the DOT. “With the cooperation of major sponsors for our programs and scholarships, WTS is poised to steer the current path of the world’s future infrastructure back in the right direction,” added Ferranto.