Friday 10-02-2023 - 11:36

February – Valentine’s Day, half-term break, Pancake Tuesday, even World Nutella Day is celebrated in this month. I had happily participated in celebrating Nutella Day for years before I had even heard of the holiday that’s being celebrated today - International Day of Women and Girls in Science. 

 

The truth is, I didn’t know this day existed until last year and I remember thinking, why is that something we have to celebrate? Women have been making scientific history and creating new inventions for centuries, women have always been innovative and intellectual and inspirational. This isn’t new. I thought, when we differentiate women’s contributions to the world from men’s, it appears as though women’s achievements are rare, deviations from the norm. 

 

But then I remembered learning about Vera Rubin, the astrophysicist whose work confirmed the existence of dark matter. This was a significant scientific breakthrough; however she never received a Nobel Prize for this. In fact, only four women have ever been awarded a Nobel Prize in physics, four women out of 222 Nobel Prize laureates. 

 

I remembered Rosalind Franklin, how she captured the image that led to the discovery of the structure of DNA. Although, it was Watson and Crick who were awarded the Nobel Prize, and her contribution to scientific research remained unacknowledged and forgotten about. 

 

And I remembered Marie Curie. The first female scientist to win a Nobel Prize for her work in radioactivity, although even this nearly didn’t happen. The committee planned to only honour her fellow scientists Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel until Pierre informed them that he would not accept the prize unless Marie’s work was also acknowledged. In order for her achievements to be recognised, Marie Curie’s husband had to advocate on her behalf.

 

I remember Ada Lovelace, Lise Meitner and Katherine Johnson; women whose accomplishments have been discredited and erased from history for years. I think of the incredible STEM women that history has forgotten about, the women whose true stories we don’t know and never will. 

 

Reflecting on all of this, I realised why celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is necessary. 

 

The number of women working in STEM careers is growing but these fields remain male-dominated, the gender pay gap is still significant in STEM industries and women who do work in these areas are more likely to leave the workforce due to hostility and gender bias. This has to change. And we cannot stop celebrating women’s accomplishments separate from men’s until their contributions are seen as equal. Until we recognise that it is not biological differences causing women to be less able to work in STEM jobs, it is us underestimating women and reinforcing the gender gap. Until we admit that women and non-binary people are equally as competent and equally as capable as men. Until we give women, girls, and non-binary people permission to like science, technology, engineering and mathematics and stop perceiving these subjects as male-specific interests. Until we live in a culture where we hear “doctor”, “mechanic”, “plumber” and “builder” and don’t immediately assume the person in question will be male. We can stop celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science once we stop viewing women’s contributions to STEM as extraordinary but see them as normal.

 

I wonder if my career aspirations would have been different if I had been educated about the scientific achievements of women. I remember when I was twelve years old, my favourite subject was computer science so when I found out that my teacher was hosting an extracurricular computing club, I couldn’t wait to join. I can still recall how slowly time moved that day as I willed the clock to strike 4pm so I could while away an hour learning how to code. When I reached the door to the classroom, I stood in a queue of about thirty boys. I was the only girl. Instead of walking into that classroom, I text my mum to tell her I wasn’t staying for the computer club after all. I quickly outgrew my love of computers and thinking about the International Day of Women and Girls in Science… I wonder how my life could have changed if I had walked into that classroom that day, with Grace Hopper and Mary Allen Wilkes in my mind. 

 

This article was contributed by Women’s Officer Alex Cooke (she/her)