Girl power giving tuesday spotlight:
Gail F. Farnsley
As a VP, Executive Partner at Gartner, Inc., Gail partners with CIOs and other executive clients as a trusted advisor, focusing in particular on global technology and business strategy planning, cost optimization, and helping her clients build high-performance teams.
What career path led you to become a STEM professional?
My degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University led to a career of expanding responsibility in information technology at Public Service Indiana, Emery Air Freight, and Georgia-Pacific. After receiving my MBA at Krannert School of Management, I joined Cummins, where I eventually became VP of global information technology and CIO. After Cummins, I took a “reverse sabbatical” – returning to Purdue as Visiting Professor at Purdue Polytechnic where I co-taught a Women in Technology course. I also developed a CIO Leadership course as well as a study abroad program that allowed students to visit India over spring break to learn about the IT services industry.
Why did you choose to become involved with TechPoint Foundation for Youth?
I have been involved with TPF4Y since 2012. As a woman in tech, I have always been interested in building the pipeline of girls in tech, and I loved that TPF4Y had a strong mission to include girls and underserved students in their programs. I joined the board just as we we getting involved with US2020, a program to match kids with STEM mentors. As an immigrant to the US and the first person in my family to go to college, I know how important it is for kids to have mentors to show them a world outside of what they experience every day. For me it was a high school math teacher, David Brewer, who introduced me to computers and told me I could go to college. Other than my teachers, I didn't know any adults who went to college and worked in an office - without guidance from my math teacher, I have no idea where I would have ended up. He made me see things in myself that no one else did. So when I was asked to join the board it was easy to say yes - I was thrilled to able to help match kids with a mentor that could help them the way David Brewer helped me.
What advice do you have for female students who are just learning about STEM careers? How would you encourage them to dream big about their futures?
First step is to find a mentor - it can be a high school student just a few years older than you, a college student, or an adult in STEM. Then ask a lot of questions and have them introduce you to people who are doing interesting jobs in STEM. If I think about the "T" in STEM, and in particular computing, so much of what we do in our jobs isn't visible to people outside of our field. That has gotten much better with the introduction of smart phones, but even then, how many people know what it takes in the background to make everything work? I love to talk to students about the technology they use every day, and encourage them to think about how they can be part of creating future technology. It is particularly important for girls to get involved - not only because we need their diverse perspectives in future products, but also because tech jobs are extremely rewarding - both personally and financially. It is hard to think of a job that doesn't use technology, so I encourage girls to think about what they are interested in - what they are passionate about - and then think about how they can use technology to make their dreams come true.
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