Jenna Fleming
Feb 11, 2024
February 11th is International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This is only the 9th time this International Day has been celebrated. This year there will be an assembly held to celebrate women in STEM at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on February 8th – 9th. There, they will have women in STEM speak, have conventions on women’s leadership, social justice and environmental integrity. A significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of STEM. Women are constantly trying to change this and be appreciated and celebrated for all they do in STEM. Katherine Johnson a female African American mathematician was one of the first African American woman to work as a NASA scientist, she analyzed the flight path of NASA spacecraft. She is best known for calculating the very first Americans to enter earth's orbit and then step foot on the moon. Katherine did this amazing work in 1969 and was not recognized for her work until 2016 when she received a Silver Snoopy Award from NASA. Did you know that female researchers tend to have shorter, less paid careers. Their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals, and they are often passed over for promotion. Have you ever heard of Rosalind Franklin? She was a British chemist, she discovered the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses and many other important things in medicine that are crucial in today's medicine. Rosalind Franklin is hardly ever mentioned for her work, instead two men, James Watson and Francis Crick are often associated with finding DNA’s structure. She never received any award or celebration for her work. February 11th is a day to celebrate these women and their significant contributions to society, take a moment to research these women and many more for their STEM contributions.
My sources:
https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/10-women-who-made-scientific-history/
https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day