Meet Jessica Marquez — a woman whose unbridled interest in space carried her from her hometown of Lima, Peru, to NASA in Ames, California, in order to explore the dynamic interaction between people and machines.
Marquez has always harbored a keen interest in science, reveling in its inquisitive nature. So, in 1995, she arrived in the United States to pursue an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at Princeton University. Her undergraduate years were what she now calls “formative years.” Culturally, for the first time, she was considered a minority. In her class of approximately 40 students, she was one of only five women.
As a minority, Marquez often felt pigeonholed by the expectations of society; as a Latina, for instance, she was often mistaken for Mexican or Puerto Rican. There seemed to be no place for a Latina or Latino who was neither. This realization propelled Marquez to organize other people of color and establish a sociocultural club on campus to raise awareness of the diversity of the Latino population. The club turned out to be a satisfying experience for her and one she believes left a positive impact on her campus.
Despite these efforts to break through common stereotypes, Marquez still felt the occasional push to be what society told her to be. When the burdens of her schoolwork began to weigh heavily on her, she would find herself saying, “Well, you’re doing all right for being a minority.” Eventually, the realization that success was not about race or gender but about the standards she chose to measure herself against allowed her to break through the barriers placed before her. To set her goals and standards, she decided to look up to her science heroes.
Marquez credits much of her success today to being able to find her science heroes. These heroes, she says, began showing up in the final stages of her undergraduate studies and continue to emerge. At first, they were seniors entering graduate programs in engineering who opened her eyes to the possibility of pursuing a master’s degree. Then, there were the amazing faculty mentors she worked with, most of whom were female. However, she is also grateful for the 2006 Selected Professions Fellowship she received from AAUW, which came at a time when there was not much interest in her dissertation topic. The fellowship gave her the means to concentrate on her research and graduate with a doctorate in human systems engineering from MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Today, Marquez works at NASA Ames Research Center in California. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and talking to students — an activity she finds “refueling.” She hopes that by putting herself out there, she will help other young women see themselves as scientists and engineers and not give in to the misconception that it is hard to obtain work-life balance as an engineer. “Work hard, play hard” is the simple yet firm motto that helps guide her life today.
This post was written by AAUW Fellowships and Grants Intern Manka Banda. Manka is a junior at the University of Maryland, majoring in general biology and global health studies with a minor in international development and conflict management.
