Excluding, silencing and discouraging so many brilliant minds carries a very heavy cost, not just to the women directly impacted, but to all of humanity.
Eunice Foote described the greenhouse gas effects of carbon dioxide in 1856.
Carlyn Iverson/NOAA Climate.gov
The results of Foote’s simple experiments were confirmed through hundreds of tests by scientists in the US and Europe. It happened more than a century ago.
Science teaches you many skills. Even if you don’t plan for a science related career, including a science subject in your senior years can provide a good balance. But only if you’re interested.
Glenn, in the NASA mailroom, received letters from fans of all ages.
John Glenn Archives, The Ohio State University
John Glenn would have turned 100 on July 18, 2021. Today’s space program is a giant leap more inclusive than when he made his pioneering orbit of the Earth in 1962.
Tube worms, anemones and mussels clustered near a hydrothermal vent on the Galapagos Rift.
NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Galapagos Rift Expedition 2011/Flickr
Oceanographer Robert D. Ballard, who is best known for finding the wreck of Titanic, has written a memoir recounting his biggest discoveries and calling for more ocean exploration.
An analysis of data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has found the gender gap in maths tests increased where papers contained more multiple choice questions.
Women enrolled in STEM courses are often more confident than men, but it hasn’t translated into career success and they are still very much a minority. More needs to be done in workplaces and schools.
Herbert Ponting/Royal Collection Trust/Wikimedia Commons
Antarctic research has historically been a bastion of men from Europe and North America. Only now is the field opening up to women and people of colour. And there’s a way to go yet.
When women do science, society benefits in myriad ways.
Solskin/Stock image/Getty Images
Marie Curie overcame innumerable obstacles, and in the process has become a role model. But does the latest film version of her life do her story justice?
Australia loses female talent at every stage of the STEM pipeline. A program in which educators and industry work together to help women gain in-demand skills is one piece in the puzzle.
Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier have been awarded the Nobel prize in Chemistry for their revolutionary work on ‘gene scissors’ that can edit DNA.
With 3% of science Nobels going to women and zero going to Black people, these awards are an extreme example of how certain demographics are underrepresented in STEM fields.
Fellowships should recognise that women may have different responsibilities when it comes to domestic chores and care of the family. This influences their academic opportunities and career choices.
In 2016, women represented just 29% of workers with university qualifications in science, technology, engineering or maths. And that was before the pandemic disruption.