Cameron Kokesh is a junior at MIT and the captain of the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle team. She and about 24 other members of the team were camping at the Formula Sun Grand Prix, where they would race their hand-built car against eight other teams to qualify for the American Solar Challenge.

Kokesh and a few other female members on the team realized the women’s bathroom was almost empty and quickly realized the lack of representation of women at the challenge.

“This was shocking,” Kokesh said. “Some teams may have brought 15 members with one or two women, whereas we brought about 15 women altogether.”

Despite this hurdle, the team won first place in the Single Occupancy Vehicle category at the American Solar Challenge, as well as a Team Spirit Award.

“MIT sometimes allows us to live in this bubble of inclusion and diversity of background and identity,” Kokesh said. “When you take a step back, you realize that industry and academics have not fully reached these levels.”

Founded in 1992, the Edgerton Center has more women in leadership roles. J. Kim Vandiver, Forbes Director of the Edgerton Center, said he intentionally created a space where underrepresented people could thrive and feel welcome.

“I had some wonderful women colleagues who helped me to see our working environment and, most importantly, take action when it was needed,” Vandiver said.

Summer Hoss is the captain of the Rocket Team at the Edgerton Center, where she instructs younger students everything they need to know about being part of this kind of team.

“Often we can feel very uncertain when we see experienced men who are very knowledgeable,” Hoss said. “I am not afraid to ask lots of questions to the more experienced members, and often these ponderings challenge the way the team has done things in the past.”

Women continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields but with more women taking the lead in projects like the Solar Electric Vehicle and the Rocket Team, this gap can continue to close.