percent of engineering graduates are women,” she said. It’s a pretty staggering number considering that Purdue University’s largest major is engineering 21 percent of 2011 graduates were engineering majors according to US News and World Report, and 43 percent of the overall student body is female. Smith says she’s fighting against prevailing social attitudes that have discouraged young girls from choosing STEM subjects in grade school, leading to girls bypassing those careers in later years. “You know I think girls, sometimes at young ages, think ‘Oh I’m not good at math and science, that’s what boys are for,’” she said. She’d like to encourage girls’ interest in STEM subjects at a young age, particular in the middle school years. “I want to kind of cut that thought process and really introduce [interest in STEM] at a young age and continue on the interest as they grow and especially in the middle school years which are so crucial for girls…I want to show them that they are just as capable, if not job.” more, to do the
Pageant controversy One of the most nerve-wracking parts of the Miss Illinois pageant for Smith was the on-stage question, where contestants are asked off-the-cuff questions about current events. Smith aced her on-stage question, but in recent years, those interviews have been a source of friction. Feminists have long criticized pageant culture for objectifying women and rewarding beauty and femininity over intellect. And viral videos of contestants stumbling over answers have provided fuel for critics. A video of Miss Utah failing to answer a question about pay inequality last June went viral, and once again sparked conversations about what pageantry truly promotes. Smith is aware of the controversy surrounding pageant culture and believes that because only a small portion of the pageant process is broadcast, people aren’t always aware of how well-rounded contestants might be, especially Miss America contestants. “In the Miss America organization, the four points of the crown are service, style, scholarship, and success. And I think we really, truly, live by those four concepts,” she said. Smith clarified the difference between Miss America, the pageant that she is competing in, and Miss USA, the competition Miss Utah competed in, which does not incorporate a social platform or talent feature to the competition. “Both organizations are great, both promote different things, it just depends on what you want to get into,” Smith explained. “The Miss America organization is, I think, more of a collective, well-rounded person in a way because it incorporates talent as well as a social platform and the Miss USA organization does not involve either of those.” Not all pageants are the same to Smith, and she believes representing them well is part of her job. “I think sometimes people don’t know the difference between [Miss America and Miss USA] so as a whole,
Exemplifying one of the four points of the crown, style, Miss Illinois works vintage Leader memorabilia.
Miss Illinois profile Talent: Irish Dance Platform: Kick Up Your Heels: Keeping Older Adults Active Hometown: Elmhurst, IL Alma Mater: Purdue University Class of 2012 Previous pageant wins: Miss Northern Suburbs, Miss Purdue 2012, 3rd Runner Up at Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant 2012.
they kind of just look at pageants collectively and say, ‘this is what we think,’ and it’s not necessarily the most positive. So I think my role, especially as Miss Illinois, I want to continue promoting it in a positive way and show people that you can be articulate, you can have a talent, you can carry a social platform, and intrigue others about what you care for.” And the Miss America pageant is growing in popularity, though after a period of significant decline. The pageant bounced around from one TV network to another since the late 90s, after receiving a 50 percent drop in viewers in 1997 when it first begin airing on ABC. After 2004, the pageant moved from Country Music Television (CMT) to TLC, and eventually signed back with ABC in 2010. In the last three years, the pageant’s viewership has been increasing yearly; and the crowning of the 2013 Miss America last January had a television audience of approximately 7.1 million people, the largest since 2004. In just a few days, Smith will compete before a live audience that could be over 7.1 million, for a title that has been glorified by Americans (though in fluctuating num-