Publication Date
3-14-2022
Abstract
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 14, 2022) – When young girls look at Maria Emilia Alfaro, she hopes they see not only a talented athlete but a skilled math student.
“If a career in the sciences interests you, don’t be afraid to give it a try,” said Alfaro, who is set to graduate from East Tennessee State University this spring. “I wasn’t sure about it either. But then I took my first statistics class and I loved it.”
Alfaro, a member of the ETSU women’s tennis team, is also a student in the university’s Mathematics and Statistics Department, carrying an impressive 4.0 GPA.
For years, scholars have lamented the low number of women working in STEM, a common acronym in higher education that stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
A groundbreaking study at Yale in 2012 found that bias persists for women working in science, and that faculty subtly but firmly favor male students over women.
Maria Emilia Alfaro
“Certainly, I would encourage young women to consider the career options,” said Alfaro. “The good thing about this career is that there are always a lot of job opportunities.”
Like other student athletes, she endures an intense schedule.
“Being a student athlete is a challenging but amazing experience,” she said. “Class and practice schedules are usually tight and time management is critical. However, loving both my sport and my career is the key that allows me to enjoy every single second of it.”
Most days begin in the weight room. Then, she attends class. Around noon, she eats lunch and then practices her sport in the afternoon.
“During the weekends we usually have competitions, so we are also traveling a lot,” she said. “I would describe it as an intense but fantastic experience combining academics and athletics.”
A native of Argentina and a transfer student from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Alfaro hopes to pursue a master’s degree in math with a focus on statistics here at ETSU. Eventually, she plans to earn a doctorate.
“Getting to both play tennis at the college level and study statistics has been an amazing experience,” she said.
Document Type
News Article
