Q&A: Christy Harper
Christy Harper, 2005 alumna, is one of the women featured as part of The Signal’s #HawkHerStory coverage, celebrating Women’s History Month. This special coverage focuses on the stories and perspectives of the various women within the UHCL community.
Read The Signal’s Q&A with Harper below and see the other Q&As conducted with students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni here.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, on both a personal and professional/educational level?
A: I grew up in New York and moved to Houston with my family when I was 18. I worked for a while and then went to college part time while raising my four children. I was incredibly grateful to UHCL for the flexibility to be able to do that. I received my BS and my MA Degree in Psychology and eventually started a career as a Human Factors/User Experience researcher at Compaq. I continued my career as Compaq merged with HP and before I left, I managed a team of ten researchers in the product design space. In 2017, I left HP and opened End to End User Research with my business partner. At both HP and End to End, I have had multiple interns and employees from UHCL work with me on research and become an integral part of my team. I enjoy training young professionals and am always available to be a mentor. I like to stay active professionally; I present at conferences, am active in the Human Factors and Ergonomics society, lecture at UHCL and other universities, contribute to professional panels and otherwise promote the field of human factors and user experience research and women in business.
Q: What are some activities you enjoy doing?
A: I am an avid reader and read every single day. I have a Maltipoo named Carly Simon who is a lot of fun. I also enjoy swimming and I heat my pool frequently so I can swim all year. I enjoy binging on TV series, the more seasons the better. My Covid hobby is watercolor painting and that has become a new obsession for me.
Q: Are there modern-day women role models you wish you had growing up?
A: Personally, I admire Oprah and Brene Brown for their authenticity. Growing up, I would have liked to have seen more women in leadership positions in general. It is good for young girls to see women excelling in any field and see that a woman who looks like them can succeed
Q: What are some problems you anticipate/have encountered as a woman in your field?
A: I think the inequity in salary was an issue that I was blissfully unaware of for many years. Now I encourage my daughters to negotiate and not take the first offer that they are given. In a business setting, there were many times that I was the only woman in the room. I learned to make sure they realized that I had a professional role and I belonged there. You must take a seat at the table and claim your space.
Q: What advice would you give to other women and young girls?
A: Believe in yourself. I can remember seeing the Distinguished Alumni portraits on the wall and being so impressed with these accomplished professionals. Never would I have dreamed that one day I too would be honored as a Distinguished Alumni. But why not? I encourage my girls to believe that anything is possible and to go after all their dreams wholeheartedly.
Q: Is there anything you would like our readers to know?
A: If you are starting a career, get a mentor and a sponsor. When you are in school, reach out to people in your field for advice, job shadowing, or informational interviews. People are typically happy to give back.
