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March 8 is International Women’s day. What’s so special about this day? Many may argue that promoting women and encouraging gender equality is an everyday issue, not a once-a-year thing. That’s true. And indeed several organizations and individuals undertake efforts on a day-to-day basis to support this cause. We want to take this day as an opportunity to applaud these all year round efforts in the form of a compilation of lists, resources, and articles that highlight women in science.
Why Highlight Women in Science?
Several decades ago, women getting into science was a novelty, an exception to the rule. While the likes of Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, and Lise Meitner have inspired generations of females by overcoming their challenges, the social reformation is not yet complete. The number of females in STEM fields is growing steadily, but even today women speakers are underrepresented in conferences, and even top-tier journalists acknowledge that their work could do better in terms of gender equality.
The purpose of highlighting women in science goes way beyond a pat on the back. The greater aim is to bring women scientists to the forefront by enhancing their visibility. A lot of great resources and lists already exist with the intention of amplifying female voices. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. In this article, we intend to curate the scattered spokes and assemble a bigger wheel that will drive forward equal representation of women in STEM.
General Resources Highlighting Women in Science
Request a (female) scientist
When speaking about highlighting women in science, the 500 Women Scientists organization tops the list. This organization is supported by over 20,000 women in STEM from more than 100 countries. Their mission is to build communities and foster change through small Local Pods.
500 Women Scientists attempts to build an inclusive scientific community by encouraging more women to voice their science. To fulfill this mission, they developed a ‘Request a Woman Scientist’ platform. This platform is open for everyone so that journalists, scientists, non-scientists—basically anyone—can find a female expert in any field from an extensive multidisciplinary network of scientists.
"It is a first step in committing to each other and to taking action for our science, our country, and the health of our planet. Just as science is built on evidence, observation, and ongoing evaluation, we are building this movement on the same tenets."
Dr. Kelly Ramirez, co-founder of 500 Women Scientists says in their pledge.
iBiology is an educational initiative that is committed to teaching biology for free to those who wish to learn. Their open-access free videos are a great way to learn about the latest methods in biology from the scientists themselves—a much needed personal touch that humanizes sciences. It is no surprise then that they have a special post featuring female science leaders, who are trailblazers in their field. Check out the link above to learn about these scientists and their revolutionary research.
Women in Science Illustrations
If you are in the mood for illustrations, the Women in Science: 50 FEARLESS PIONEERS WHO CHANGED THE WORLD book authored by Rachel Ignotofsky, New York Times Best Selling author and illustrator, might be perfect for you! The book is an illustrative compilation of fifty women who have made notable contributions to the scientific field. Her creative work is a fun way of learning about noteworthy women in STEM. She also has other fun stuff like women in science postcards and puzzles on her website.
If/Then Initiative
The If/Then initiative strives to empower female scientists & innovators to shape the future generation of pioneers. They aim to achieve this through their strategy of providing funding opportunities, merging diverse fields such as fashion and sports with science, and amplifying voice of female leaders to inspire the next generation.
In one of their upcoming projects, the If/Then initiative will select 100 women scientists from a broad range of expertise and support their media training to broadcast their stories. As a part of this program, Project Runway will feature female video game developers in a special episode.
150 'Women in Science' Books
Books are a great way of learning about scientists and their work. If you are a bookworm, Dale DeBakcsy, writer and artist, has compiled a great list of 150 memoirs, biographies, and simply fascinating books of and by women in science. How many will you read?
Women Scientists Across the World
Indian Women in Science
The Life of Science is a platform focusing on women scientists in India. It started in 2016 as a pet project of two freelance science writers, Aashima Dogra and Nandita Jayaraj, who were interested in writing biographies of Indian women scientists. Through their profile interviews, Dogra and Jayaraj are looking to dive deeper into the work of these female scientists, their stories, and their challenges.
"We worked together at a science magazine and talked often about rigid notions that hold back science. One of them is the popular image of the scientist as a bearded man in a dusty laboratory shaking test tubes. The lack of female role models in public visibility has been feeding stereotypes for both ‘scientist’ and ‘Indian woman’. We wondered if there was anything we could do as science communicators to hasten gender equality in India. This science media + feminist project The Life of Science was born out of these discussions."
The India Bioscience network also has an ebooklet featuring Indian women in science.
Australian STEM Superstars
The Science & Technology Australia (STA) represents about 70,000 Australian scientists and technologists working across all scientific disciplines.
The STA has a ‘Superstars of STEM’ program, started with the aim of increasing the public visibility of women in STEM. Through workshops over 2 years, the program aims to help female participants build their public profile by providing them with tools to hone their communication skills. Their website also has “Request a superstar speaker” section to promote their representation at public-speaking events.
Puerto Rico’s Inspiring Women in Science
Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) is a nonprofit organization committed to the advancement of science in Puerto Rico. Ciencia PR strives to stimulate collaborations within their diverse network of scientists, profesionals, students, and citizens, and raise awareness regarding the importance of science to inspire the next generation of scientists.
Ciencia PR has a blog focused on women to promote science communication and help their career development.
Canadian Women in Science and Technology
Founded in 1981, the Society for Canadian Women In Science and Technology (SCWIST) encourages education of women in STEM fields. Their mission is to support women through leadership and mentorship programs and actively boost the retention of women in the workplace by networking and advocating women-friendly policies.
Their vision: To create an environment where women and girls in Canada can pursue their interest, education, and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) without barriers.
America’s Got STEM Talent
There are multiple organizations supporting the growth of women in science in the US. One of these, Association for Women in Science, AWIS, was founded in 1971. With chapters all across the US, and a global network member count of 100,000, AWIS advocates for professional growth of Women in STEM.
Finding Women With Topical Scientific Expertise
CRISPR 101 eBook
CRISPR has quickly become a standard laboratory tool for gene editing. As the adoption of CRISPR accelerates worldwide, up-to-date knowledge of the basics of CRISPR is essential for anyone in the field. From target identification studies to the recent breakthroughs in clinical trials, CRISPR is enabling scientists to unlock the power of the genome.
Download our CRISPR 101 eBook today to stay up to date on all your CRISPR basics and get the best results in your CRISPR experiments!
Whether you are a scientist looking for peers, a journalist searching for a source, or a conference organizer looking for a speaker, there are times when you need women scientists who are experts in a specific topic. There is no dearth of lists out there featuring women in all fields. Here’s a humble attempt to summarize some of those efforts.
Women in Microbiology Book
Rachel Whitaker, Professor at Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Hazel Barton, Professor at Department of Biology, The University of Akron authored a “Women in Microbiology” book. It can be bought on the online store of the American Society for Microbiology website.
Microbiome Female Leaders
Elisabeth Bik, a leading microbiome expert, compiled this list to ensure that conference speakers have equal female representation. The list is also a part of her blog post elaborating on her views regarding the lack of women scientists in keynotes and forums.
Women in CRISPR
Gaetan Burgio, a CRISPR expert and group leader at Australian National University, created a list of women scientists working in CRISPR to promote female representation in media and conferences.
Finding a Female Physicist
Physics was a male-dominated field for a very long time. But even after women broke the stereotype and excelled in physics, how do we find them? The American Physical Society has taken it upon themselves to make sure that you can find female physicists through their Women Speakers List.
Women in Biology
Women in Bio is an organization of professional women from all fields of life sciences. The organization has 13 chapters throughout North America with >2,000 members. Volunteers share the goal of empowering women to become leaders and succeed in their professional ventures. Events drive networking between members from biotech and pharma companies, universities and institutes, law and accounting firms, marketing, and PR firms, etc. to help each other.
"Women helping women to aim higher and reach further"
Women in Chemistry
The American Chemical Society (ACS) highlights the contributions of women scientists in celebration of Women’s History Month. Learn about these historical figures, who rose above the gender discrimination challenges and contributed to some of the most revolutionary discoveries.
Women in Synthetic Biology
Synbiobeta has several articles featuring women in synthetic biology over the years. They recently compiled their resources in a great diversity and inclusion page to highlight amazing women in synthetic biology.
Women in Biotech & Pharma Industry
While applauding successful female academic researchers, let’s not forget the stalwarts of biotechs and pharma companies. What used to largely be a men-in-suits field is now getting more diverse with women in leadership roles shattering the glass ceiling. Biotech companies are actively pledging gender equality in leadership roles, as substantiated by the open letter from 100 Massachusetts biotech firms.
Labiotech.eu has put together a great list of leading female entrepreneurs in European biotech companies. Business Insider also has a list of women biopharma leaders in the US who are shaping the future of medicine.
