In Vietnam, Arizona State University (ASU) is the implementing partner of a federal program called the Building University-Industry Learning and Development through Innovation and Technology or BUILD-IT. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

BUILD-IT facilitates programs that develop engineering and technical, entrepreneurial, teaching, and leadership skills and other professional growth opportunities.

ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering facilitates numerous events to help women get involved and advance in engineering and higher education careers.

“As people in the region learn more about the breadth of opportunities in STEM fields, and women learn more, their eyes are opened to the possibilities; they are engaging in opportunities to advance,” says Kathy Wigal, director of global operations for the Fulton Schools Office of Global Outreach and Extended Education and project director of BUILD-IT.

Lac Hong University (LHU) is exemplary in representation. Women at the university serve in high-level positions such as deans, vice deans, and vice-rectors, a role similar to that of a university vice president in the United States.

Do Thi Lan Dai and Van Dinh Vy Phuong recently joined the leadership ranks at LHU, making history in their new positions. Lan Dai is the first female chair of the University Council, and Phuong became the first woman to chair a STEM department when she took over the Information Technology Department.

Lan Dai and Phuong have been actively involved for years in BUILD-IT programs. Both women took advantage of programs, including Engineering Projects in Community Service, where participants address local challenges through team-based projects, projects that focus on working with an industry partner, and maker-to-entrepreneur training.

Other programs include master teacher training workshops for innovative educational methods, certified facilitator training to leverage university expertise to improve faculty pedagogy, and industry advisory board best practices workshops and other leadership training.

While these opportunities are not targeted solely at women, currently, 31% of the participants in BUILD-IT’s programs are female.

ASU and programs like BUILD-IT are continuing work to expand the pipeline of female faculty. With role models and advocates like Lan Dai and Phuong leading the way, Wigal is confident more young women will get engaged in STEM fields and take advantage of the available opportunities.

For Phuong, building her confidence was the biggest hurdle to becoming an advocate. She says changing attitudes to foster acceptance that women can do more than assist others requires women to “be the one to act.”

“Only then,” Phuong says, “will others, especially men, recognize and re-evaluate the role and position of women in the science-oriented and male-dominated environment of STEM.”