A Close- Up Look At People Who Matter : Opening Doors for Success in the Sciences

Physics, mathematics and computer models are fun for Dorothy McGarrah.

She’d like more girls and young women to think so too.

“Every once in a while you want to say, ‘Heck, it’s interesting,’ ” said McGarrah, who has a doctorate in nuclear engineering. “That’s why I do it.”

McGarrah, 37, of Woodland Hills, moved to Los Angeles almost three years ago to work for XonTech Inc., a small defense contractor in Van Nuys. Although she enjoyed the challenges of the job, she felt isolated as a woman in a technical field in a new city.

One problem was that Los Angeles had no local chapter of the Assn. of Women in Technology, she said. Another new arrival to Los Angeles, Margaret DeRose, a researcher for a Thousand Oaks pharmaceutical company, agreed.

The two met at a leadership conference after hearing about each other through the group’s national office. With Jackie Zev, a technical manager at XonTech, they held the first meeting of the association’s L.A. chapter in DeRose’s Thousand Oaks home a few weeks before the Northridge earthquake.

“The objective is to make a level playing field,” said McGarrah, president of the chapter that aims to create a network for women to help each other pursue careers in science and promote role models for younger women. Through the group, women can help others with similar problems, share ideas and alert each other about job openings, she said.

The membership is small--a little more than 50--and the group meets only four times a year, but the networking that goes on outside of the meetings plays a bigger role in eliminating the isolation women can feel in a field often dominated by men, they said. Mentoring programs for female high school and college students are also planned.

“You realize there are other people out there like me,” said Zev, the chapter’s treasurer. “You can walk into a room and see 30 other degreed women, and know that you’re not alone.”

Although women have made progress in science over the years, the percentage of women scientists is still low. They are rarer in the physical sciences, and very few reach management positions.

“I see AWIS as a conduit,” McGarrah said. “The ones that do make it know it’s very important to look to help the ones behind.”

Anyone who wants to advance the status of women in science, including men, are welcome in the group, McGarrah said.

As the organization grows, members hope to reach more girls at a younger age and open their eyes to the fun of science.

“Children are, by nature, very curious,” McGarrah said. And once they get their first taste of science, “I think a fair amount of the time they will think it is fun.”

But the parents may still be a problem.

“There’s a concern from parents that if their daughters go into science, they won’t have families,” McGarrah said. But although some can dedicate 60 hours a week to their jobs, that does not have to be, she said.

“The important thing is to make people aware that women in science can have a normal life,” she said.

McGarrah can be reached at (818) 787-7380.

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