Women in STEM: A Personal Note & Organization Spotlight

A quick note from the author:

As someone who has been fortunate enough to work with a close female lab mentor (shoutout to Fariha!), I am grateful to be able to say that I have never had to experience or feel the gender gap in STEM in my own workplace. It wasn’t until a little later, when I started to take specific classes, get involved in other STEM-related activities outside of school, and talk with other girls in research, that I noticed the problem was still omnipresent.

In November 2024, my school, Hunter College High School, hosted NYC’s inaugural City-wide High School Research Conference, where I got to be a part of the Gender Gaps in STEM Panel, having a discussion and posing questions to fellow student researchers at Hunter. This experience, which allowed us the space to have truly honest conversations about the experience of being a woman and/or other underrepresented genders in science—and also talking in front of a room full of people really listening and actively wanting to help—made me conscious of being part of this broader, supportive community. It also made me realize the value and hard work of the Women in STEM movement—a movement that has assuredly made great progress, but whose mission is not yet over.

—Sophie

In this blog post, we’ll be discussing the gender gap in STEM and highlighting pioneering organizations that support underrepresented voices in science, giving them the recognition they deserve for making the sciences a more inclusive space. After all, for true progress and advancements in bioinspiration and other innovative technologies to be made, we need a diversity of voices to be heard and to be able to collaborate together.

First, we’ll quickly go over some background facts. While women make up half of the workforce, the representation in STEM-related industries has long lagged behind. Over the past few decades, the number of women in the STEM workforce has made dramatic gains, from around 8% in 1970 to about 26% in the past couple of years, according to the Department of Labor. What is interesting to note, though, is the further subsets of disparity between different STEM-related industries as shown in the infographic below. For example, while women make up the majority of the workforce in the social sciences and constitute about 75% of the public health-related workforce, only about a quarter are in computer science. Just a little more than 10% are in engineering. A litany of barriers, such as the gender pay gap, hiring and promotional discrimination, and poor accommodations for maternity leave and family life, all help to keep these numbers low.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/01/women-making-gains-in-stem-occupations-but-still-underrepresented.html

Never fear, however! There are strong advocates and powerful organizations that continuously work to change the narrative of women in STEM through initiatives like building networks of mentorship, organizing events, and increasing awareness of women in STEM fields. Today, I’ll spotlight a few of these organizations to give well-deserved recognition and for anyone who might want to potentially get involved in them!

1. Society of Women Engineers (SWE): Dating back to 1950, SWE is a non-profit that has been at the forefront of uplifting and encouraging women in engineering. With conferences, scholarships, and many exciting youth programs like SWENext Influencer and SWENext High School Leadership Academy, SWE offers so many incredible ways to get involved, no matter if you are already a distinguished researcher or simply a high school student with a passion.

   
   

2. Nucleate: Nucleate is a student-led initiative within the biotech sector that empowers people—especially women scientists—to step into leadership roles in the life sciences. (My PhD mentor, Fariha, does a lot of cool work organizing events for Nucleate!) While not exclusively for women, Nucleate offers a really special immersive program called “Women Leading Life Science Dinners,” which hosts conversations with female leaders in the field and creates an open forum for aspiring, like-minded female scientists. By bridging research and industry, Nucleate helps women translate their ideas into real-world biotech ventures—not just encouraging them to stay in STEM, but also to grow as founders and company leaders.

   
   

3. Girls Who Code: Girls Who Code is almost a household name at this point, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many have already heard of it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important to spotlight and acknowledge the work they do! Focused on closing the gender gap in computer science, Girls Who Code introduces young women and non-binary individuals to the field through chapters/clubs, AI summer programs, and an international community. Girls Who Code has served over 700,000 individuals.

   
   

4. Scientista: This organization aims to keep pre-professional women on track toward successful STEM careers, particularly addressing the drop-off rate of women who pursue science through BA or master’s degrees but do not go on to earn PhDs or enter the workforce. Scientista can be found across 20+ college campuses, partners with major companies, and hosts an Intercollegiate Research Symposium to celebrate and connect gender-minority researchers face-to-face!

A note from the author (again!) 

I hope this blog post reaches the right audience and reminds anyone who feels discouraged from entering STEM, whether from difficult experiences at work or in school, to please not give up! There are so many organizations, and even simply individuals, who want to see us succeed. Talk to the other girl in your engineering camp or your female teacher, and I promise you’ll see what I'm talking about.

If you ever want to connect and talk further about personal struggles, please don’t hesitate to comment or reach out through the Contact Me section!

Lastly, a personal thank you to all my mentors and to everyone reading and engaging with this blog. You all keep me motivated as a girl in materials chemistry, too.

— Sophie :)