Sciences and Small Business Focus of Women for Murphy Roundtable

August 09 2012 by Nick Fabiani

Last night, Chris met with a small group of women in New London for his third roundtable discussion held by Women for Murphy. The conversation touched on a wide range of issues affecting women, including infrastructure, job creation, pay equity, education, and women's health.

In discussing education, the attendees specifically agreed that there is a need for more programs to encourage women to go into the sciences. Rosemary Palmieri from New Haven, a recent graduate of the Sound School, spoke about her experience as a woman interested in pursuing a career in science.

"The opportunities I received were actually outside of the classroom," Palmieri said. "I applied for an internship through my biotechnology class. In an effort to get more women involved in the sciences my bio teacher approached me about applying. I was one of 25 women in the country to be accepted, and now I am going to Dickinson in the fall and I plan to major in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. We need to encourage women to explore fields like engineering and biosciences in and out of the classroom because we're not tapping into the resources we have and that's hurting us as a country."

When discussing the state of the economy, Sheila Hayes from Norwich spoke about the difficulties that small businesses face.

"What does an entrepreneur need? They need to be able to have access to dollars, affordable health care...basic materials for owning your own business," said Hayes. "Having come from a family of entrepreneurs I know firsthand that we need help breaking through those barriers."

Murphy agreed. "There are enormous barriers to get businesses started. There are far too many bureaucratic obstacles to starting a small business that we need to streamline, which will not only help our small business owners but cut costs for the government."