This year St Matthias have chosen to highlight STEM and particularly Women in Science as a focus for International Women’s Day. Only 24% of UK STEM roles are held by women and our country has one of the lowest percentage of female engineers in Europe. Students have been discussing why more women must be encouraged into STEM subjects, and not just for diversity quotas but for the future of innovation. Students looked at barriers to women in STEM and also looked at some inspirational female pioneers:
Sameera Moussa was the first female Egyptian nuclear scientist. She came up with the historic equation that would break the atoms of cheap metals such as copper. This discovery helped to make medical applications such as x-rays cheaper.
Dian Fossey was an American Zoologist who undertook an extensive study of gorilla groups over an 18 year period. She campaigned fiercely to protect gorillas in the wild and worked hard for conservation.
Katherine Johnson helped to send the first astronauts to the moon. She was the first black woman to attend West Virginia University’s newly integrated graduate school programme. Her accomplishments at NASA have since been recognised, leading her to be regarded as one of the pioneers of the space age.
Student comments:
"It is only fair that woman get equal chances as men in science" Gurnoor Y7
"Women are just as smart as males" Logan Y7
"More women should be respected and treated the same as men" Rayvon Y7