Three of the women working in information services at EMU (from left): Jenni Piper ’92, Krista Nyce ’14, Becky Brenneman ’07. (Not pictured: Alison D’Silva)
Women in information technology work in what is still, very much, a man’s world. However, there are pioneering women who navigate the computers, cables, and testosterone to work in this quickly developing field.
At EMU, there are four such women who work directly in the information systems department: Krista Nyce ’14, Becky Brenneman ’07, Jenni Piper ’92 and Alison D’Silva ’01, MA ’06 (conflict transformation).
Like all the information systems employees at EMU, the women came to IS from a variety of backgrounds for a variety of reasons. Nyce, a psychology graduate, began like many of the current IS employees – by working at the EMU helpdesk in a work-study position.
Brenneman, got into IS “by accident” over 30 years ago while working in a different capacity at EMU. She eventually left EMU to work as a programmer at the alumni-heavy company Jenzabar for 25 years (see p. 15) before returning to EMU to complete her undergraduate degree in 2007. Brenneman is the only female programmer at EMU, a status that she hopes to see changed in future years.
Piper also originally worked at EMU in another capacity, left for a few years, and then returned to take the position as the associate director of user services. For a long time Piper was the only female in IS at EMU until she was joined by D’Silva in 2009.
Piper, who is involved in hiring for IS, said she would like to see more females in the department, but that males are almost always the ones who apply for IS jobs.
“I would like to see more women in the field,” agreed Brenneman, “especially because it would be nice to have closer relationships with more of my colleagues.”
Until more females apply, though, these women are content to work in the collegial, supportive environment offered to EMU’s IS employees – regardless of gender.