The International Day of Women and Girls in Science occurs on Thursday, February 11th. Seeing as women and girls do not get the recognition they deserve when it comes to advances in science and technology, the United Nations passed a resolution in 2015 enshrining this day specifically for the purpose of alleviating this grievance. This day is meant to bring attention to achievements women have accomplished in science, especially those so often overshadowed by their male counterparts.
Women are severely underrepresented in the STEM field. According to UN Women, “Only 30 percent of researchers worldwide are women, and only 35 percent of all students enrolled in STEM related fields of study are women,”. This is not to say that women are incapable of doing the job or lack the qualities to work hard enough. Rather, centuries of labeling women as only fit for the household hand in hand with the pervasive sexism in society is a significant deterrent, even to this day, for women to enter the field.
Nonetheless, many, many women have found their way to success within the STEM field. Here a few famous female scientists you should know.
Marie Curie (1867 – 1934)
No discussion of female empowerment in science is complete with the mention of Marie Curie. Curie is a person of many firsts: the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first (and only) woman to win two Nobel Prizes, and the first female professor at the University of Paris. She is most famous for her research on radioactivity, as she was the person who discovered the elements radium and polonium. They are used to treat cancer. Despite her many impressive accomplishments, Curie’s husband, who she worked with, was often given the credit for her work.
“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964)
Rachel Carson is best known for her book, Silent Spring, in addition to her work in conservation and marine biology. Carson studied the impact of pesticides and fertilizers on the environment. She brought attention to the need to care for the natural world and arguably catalyzed the environmentalist movement, particularly when it comes to chemical pollution.
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
Rosalind Franklin (1920 – 1958)
Rosalind Franklin’s career is perhaps the most heartbreaking depiction of the barriers women face in the STEM field. Franklin discovered the molecular structure of DNA, among helping us better understand RNA, how viruses work, and more. Despite her being the lead scientist that made the discovery, two men, Jim Watson and Francis Crick, were awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of DNA’s structure instead of her. Only in recent years has her name gained more recognition for this groundbreaking achievement. To read about more examples of sexism in science, read this National Geographic article.
“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.”
Chien-Shiung Wu (1912 – 1997)
Chinese-American physicist Chien-Shiung Wu is credited with disproving one of the basic laws of physics, called conservation of parity. Prior to Wu's work, the laws of physics stated that all objects and their mirror images behaved in the same way, symmetrically, meaning that nature could not distinguish between right and left. Wu's breakthrough research revealed that during the process of radioactive decay, decaying identical nuclear particles didn't always behave symmetrically. She also worked on the Manhattan Project, helping develop the process for separating uranium metal and developing better instruments to measure nuclear radiation.
“These were moments of exhilaration and ecstasy! A glimpse of this wonder can be the reward of a lifetime. Could it be that excitement and ennobling feelings like these have kept us scientists marching forward forever?”
Katherine Johnson (1918 – 2020)
Katherine Johnson was a mathematician who worked on NASA’s early space missions, earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. Her work included calculating trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights, including those for astronauts Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and John Glenn, the first American in orbit, and rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon. Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she worked on plans for a mission to Mars.
“Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men.”
Vera Rubin (1928 – 2016)
Vera Rubin was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion, by studying galactic rotation curves. This phenomenon became known as the galaxy rotation problem, and was evidence of the existence of dark matter.
“There is no problem in science that can be solved by a man that cannot be solved by a woman.”
Gladys West (1930 – present)
Gladys West is an American mathematician and she is one of the reasons why you can receive driving directions from your phone or tag a photo location on Instagram. She is known for her contributions to the mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of the satellite geodesy models that were eventually incorporated into the Global Positioning System (GPS). Despite her tremendous contribution to technology and society, until very recently, Gladys’ work went largely unrecognized and unheralded. Her contributions to the GPS were only rediscovered when a member of West’s Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority read a biography West submitted for an alumni function. In 2018, she was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame.
“When you’re working every day, you’re not thinking, ‘What impact is this going to have on the world?’ You’re thinking, ‘I’ve got to get this right.’”
Jennifer Doudna (1964 – present)
Jennifer Anne Doudna is an American biochemist known for her pioneering work in CRISPR gene editing. Her groundbreaking development of CRISPR-Cas9 as a genome engineering technology, with collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, earned the two the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of a method for genome editing” and forever changed the course of human and agricultural genomics research. Doudna and other scientists have shown that the CRISPR/Cas9 technique works in human cells, a finding with enormous implications for preventing and treating many intractable diseases, including viral illnesses, such as HIV, and genetic conditions, such as Down syndrome and sickle cell anemia.
“Just because we are not ready for scientific progress does not mean it won’t happen.”
Gertrude Elion (1918 – 1999)
American biochemist and pharmacologist Gertrude B. Elion helped develop drugs to treat leukemia and prevent kidney transplant rejection. Together with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black, she won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment” in 1988. Her work led to the creation of the AIDS drug AZT. Her well known works also include the development of the first immunosuppressive drug, azathioprine, used to fight rejection in organ transplants, and the first successful antiviral drug, acyclovir (ACV), used in the treatment of herpes infection.
“Don’t be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t let others discourage you or tell you that you can’t do it. In my day I was told women didn’t go into chemistry. I saw no reason why we couldn’t.”
Additionally, check out this video by the United Nations in celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science for more modern examples of women doing amazing things in the field.
Even if you don’t do anything different or special on the 11th, make a conscious effort to think about the women who have contributed so much to society, despite the barriers put before them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maya Sobchuk is a third-year at Macalester College in Minnesota studying international law and international relations theory. She is from Kyiv, but grew up in Los Angeles, California. She has previously worked for the Kyiv Post, is the Web Editor for her college newspaper, and is involved with Ukrainian-American causes in Minnesota. Maya is particularly interested in the post-colonial space, multilateral diplomacy, and disinformation.