Five years spent developing software and managing projects taught Danna Gurari the value of having a good mentor with a sympatico personality—ideally another woman. The third-year computer science PhD candidate struggled to find one—a challenge for anyone, but especially for a woman in a male-dominated field.

Statistics illuminate why Gurari (GRS’15) and other women working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) could easily be discouraged. Although women comprise nearly half of the total workforce in the United States, they hold less than 25 percent of STEM-related jobs, according to a 2011 study by the US Department of Commerce.

Gurari says she chose to earn a doctorate at the Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences because it had a number of female computer science faculty members—something not every CS graduate program can say. “I realized when working in the industry the importance of having a female mentor,” she says. “I feel very lucky to have found the mentor I did: Margrit Betke.”

Not only did Gurari receive advice and encouragement from Professor Betke, but at BU she also found a group of women graduate students whose mission is to help each other prepare for science and engineering careers. Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) provides advice, networking, and social opportunities year-round for female grad students in these fields at BU.

Gurari became actively involved in GWISE, participating in a workshop on how to write fellowship applications, listening to speakers talk about the challenges faced by women in science, and helping organize events. GWISE President Lauren Mangano believes one of the biggest benefits of taking part in the four-year-old group is interacting with women outside of one’s own narrow field. A second-year biomedical engineering PhD candidate, Mangano says, “You are often very focused within your department, so we host two to three social events per semester.”

Thanks to support from GRS, ENG, and the provost’s office, GWISE leaders organize a wide range of professional development talks and workshops throughout the year—last year over 300 people attended GWISE events. In addition, group members give back through a science club for girls that they run at an after-school program at a local Boys & Girls Club in Allston (the West End House). They also work with the University administration on policies related to graduate students and women overall at BU. “They are making Boston University a more engaged community, and all our graduate students, women and men, benefit from what they’re doing,” says GRS Associate Dean Jeffrey Hughes.

The most important benefit of GWISE is the supportive community its members have built. “My fellow officers have become lifelong friends, and they support me through thick and thin,” past GWISE President Meredith Danowski, an astronomy PhD candidate, told Women in Engineering magazine recently. “Getting together to celebrate each other’s successes makes everything that much sweeter.”