The road to academic success can be long and arduous, but with friends and mentors, the journey can be joyful and fulfilling.
That’s the message alumnus Carrie Tirel shared with graduate students at the third annual Graduate School Fellowship Celebration on Sept. 28. The event came 50 years after UWM awarded its first doctoral degree, which, like Tirel’s, was in mathematics.
Though from a small town near Manitowoc, Tirel didn’t find Milwaukee intimidating. In fact, she migrated from UW-Manitowoc to UW-Platteville but was ultimately drawn to UWM and didn’t look back, earning her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in Milwaukee.
Speaking to the UWM graduate students, she validated their choice to come to UWM.
“No matter what your definition of success is, this is the right place to pursue it,” she said. “I found such a great community of support and inspiration that helped me fit in and achieve my goals.”
But it wasn’t always easy for Tirel, who now has tenure at UW-Fox Valley.
“I know what it’s like to struggle with finances,” she said. “The financial support that fellowships provide were so important for me. Finances were tough for me.”
Among the people who influenced her is UW-Manitowoc professor Marty Schuh, who taught Tirel first-semester calculus.
“She was fantastic. She’s definitely one of the reasons I am where I am today,” Tirel said.
She also credits her doctoral adviser at UWM, Craig Guilbault, a mentor who has supported her well after she got her degree.
“He’s helped me to stay in the research loop – I don’t know if I’d have tenure today without him,” she said.
Guilbault reciprocates the high regard, but thinks Tirel can be a bit modest.
“In my opinion, she was an excellent student — from B.S. to M.S. to Ph.D.,” Guilbault said. “And she was a huge asset to UWM as a teacher.”
Tirel continues her research and publication, but she has also recently been able to act on an abiding passion: addressing the shortage of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.
“My experience as a grad student was as very much a minority, and as a teacher I’ve noticed it as well,” she said. “It’s impossible not to ask why this is happening, why women are dropping out after the first test.”
With fellow faculty member Jamie Douglas, Tirel co-founded Empower and Lead: Women in STEM at UW-Fox Valley. The group received a $10,000 grant from the Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley Region in 2015 and $5,000 in support from AT&T this year.
“We get them to chat among themselves, so they at least can avoid the sense of isolation that being a minority can create.”
Tirel and Douglas have been recruiting women for the program, which brings women together twice a month to discuss their challenges.
The campus group’s goals include eliminating structural barriers women face in STEM fields by improving their access to peer networks, role models and sponsors or mentors.
“We bring in women from engineering firms, actuaries, that sort of thing, to talk about what they’ve had to overcome that and how they’ve done it,” Tirel said. “Seeing a person who’s done the things you’re trying to do right now, that’s totally a motivator – it’s more real than just putting a title on your major.”
She’s even having some impact on the other side of the sex divide.
“We’ve recently had interest from male students who want to join our program, which I think is wonderful.”
