Despite what that teacher said, my aunt, Susan Bailey, not only became a doctor, but she was also one of the first female board-certified cardiovascular surgeons in the US. My mom, Mary Cranston, became a lawyer. When she made partner at her firm, the partnership celebration dinners were still held at a social club that didn't allow women.
Every February 11, the United Nations-designated International Day of Women and Girls in Science reminds us of the myriad obstacles women and girls around the world face within the STEM disciplines and the ways they continue to overcome challenges and stand out in their fields. "Today, women make up less than one third of the world's researchers," says Alexis Abramson, dean of the Columbia Climate School. "Closing this gender gap is not only a matter of fairness but is essential to further the innovation and impact of the work."
Paris' Eiffel Tower features the names of 72 notable scientists - all men. But that is set to change with the addition of another 72 names, this time women who distinguished themselves in the field of science, mathematics or engineering. The city of Paris has revealed the name of 72 women who have distinguished themselves in the scientific field - their names will be written next to those of the 72 men whose names are engraved in gold on the monument.
Chatterjee works in the emerging and male-dominated field of gravitational-wave science. She studies neutron stars - ultra-dense cores that are left over when massive stars collapse - by looking at gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space-time. It's an approach that brings together several disciplines, including nuclear, particle and condensed-matter physics. On her return to India in 2020, she joined the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune.
She also doesn't understand why, as a woman in my 40s, I like certain things that she considers childish, like animated films. However, when I think about her childhood, I realize that she probably still has unhealed trauma that was never dealt with. She was born in France, just two months before the Nazis marched in, and spent the first five years of her life in wartime and economic struggles.
First, there was girl math. Then there was girl dinner. And now we'd like to introduce you to girl tools. It's like the time you opened a bottle of wine with nothing but a Bic pen or the time you repaired your glasses with eyelash glue. Girl tools - they are ingenious, they get the job done, and they might just be a high-heeled shoe or a Lego block, who knows?
