This week, The Argus sat down with Gavriela Meyers ’25, a member of the Wesleyan Women in Science (WesWiS) Steering Committee who is committed to supporting fellow women in STEM. From studying abroad in Granada, Spain, to organizing STEM research panels and enjoying music at the University, Meyers works on building a strong community for female-identifying students. While navigating through a typically male-dominated field is challenging, Meyers is motivated by underclassmen who follow in her footsteps. 

The Argus: Why do you think that you were nominated to be a WesCeleb?

Gavriela Meyers: I think that on campus, I have done a lot of work with WesWiS, and so I think that is why people have come to me for help on things related to being a woman in science. I think that’s why I was nominated.

A: Speaking of the wonderful work you do with WesWiS, tell us everything about it.

GM: I am on the WesWiS Steering Committee. There are about two people from each grade on the steering committee, starting with sophomores. And I’ve been on this since I was a sophomore. The purpose of WesWiS is to form a community of people who identify as women in science, and do all sorts of events, like research panels and lunches with faculty members. Each person on the committee can work on their own interests. So this year, I [organized] a graduate student panel for people who are interested in going to graduate school for anything related to STEM. But mainly what I’ve been working on, since I was a sophomore, is [researching] the [low] retention rates for women in certain majors.

A: Wow, that’s very interesting! Was there anything that particularly motivated you to work on that?

GM: One day, when I was a sophomore, I came across a physics poster which said, “Celebrating the Class of 2025,” and it was all men in the photo. And I was like, there’s no way this can be real, and there’s no way that this can be advertised right now. And apparently there was one girl in the major, and she missed the day that they took the photo. But that really struck me, and I was really upset by that. Then, I started realizing that in my computer science classes, there were way fewer women in the higher level classes than there were in my intro class. And I knew this was the case for a lot of other majors, too. I also knew it wasn’t a problem that only Wesleyan was facing. It’s like a worldwide problem in all these huge companies: you don’t see women in leadership positions. It’s mostly men, and in the world of finance and technology, which is what the world I’m in, you see that all the time. So that’s been something I’ve been trying to address at Wesleyan: pinpoint the reasons why women are dropping these majors.

A: How do you navigate these fields as a woman, and what would you want to put out there for people who would want to do the same thing as you?

GM: I think a part of it is finding a community. I have been in settings where I’ve been one of the only girls. [That] started in high school, where I was one of the only girls in my computer science class. The first thing I did was find the other girl in the class and become friends with her. So, I guess the advice I would give to a girl is to find people that you feel comfortable with in the classroom. When things do get hard—which they will—you can have someone to talk to. Then, at work, like, my internship this past summer was in a male-dominated company, but I did the same thing. I just found a group of girls. There were times when people treated us differently, and we just helped each other out by being a community.

A: Regarding community and support, how do you think Wesleyan has offered support to you?

GM: I’m a Latina, too. Wesleyan has a program called [Wesleyan Math and Science Scholars], which was very helpful when I was a freshman. I was in their seminars, and that allowed me to build that community that I’m talking about of other girls and students of color in this white, male-dominated field. That helped. I met some friends there who I still like to work with in class. There are also a lot of other resources. I’m working on a committee right now, separate from WesWiS, that is looking to do more inclusion in STEM, and we’re interviewing students who have been in STEM classes and dropped them. That committee is run by a faculty member as well. I definitely feel like the faculty has been very supportive. The female faculty who [I’ve] met at the WesWiS events like these lunches that we’ve hosted have also been supportive and have given me a lot of their input as well.

A: What are you interested in outside of science?

GM: I love to run. I did a half marathon with a bunch of my friends last year, and I’m doing one again with a bunch of friends this spring. Running is a huge part of my life, and I like to dance as well. Throughout my time at Wesleyan, I’ve been part of a few dance groups. I love to sing karaoke a lot. That’s something that my friends and I do randomly once a week in our house. And I love to travel. Traveling is part of how I’ve gotten exposed to so many solutions, like meeting other people and knowing that this problem that I’ve faced here is universal. Traveling has allowed me to just open my eyes to a lot of things.

A: That’s awesome. What were some of the highlights of your Wesleyan experience?

GM: I loved going abroad. That was a lot of fun. All my Wesleyan friends were abroad at the same time, so it was fun to meet up with them in different places. At Wesleyan, you can [also] meet people through all sorts of ways, like going to concerts; there’s a lot of music. So I feel like I’ve enjoyed attending a lot of music events and shows.

A: Where did you go abroad? And what was your experience like?

GM: I went to Granada in southern Spain, and it was really beautiful. I went because I wanted to try something completely different and be somewhere I’d never been before. I also really wanted to speak Spanish. I think being fluent in two languages is very important. I learned Spanish and English at the same time, but I feel I’ve strengthened my English a lot more by being here and going to school in the U.S. So I wanted to work on my Spanish, and so this was an amazing experience. Going to school somewhere else and living somewhere else for a period of time was an amazing experience. I’m really glad that I was able to get the opportunity to do that. 

A: Finally, do you have any advice for your freshman self?

GM: My advice for [my] freshman self would maybe be just to stick with [things]. I think there have been a few times where I dropped a class because I just thought it was going to be too difficult for me right at the beginning. I think I would have wanted myself to stick with things more, but I try not to regret what I’ve done. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Raiza Goel can be reached at rgoel@wesleyan.edu.