Intersectionality: Women & Girls in Science

The following article is an opinions based-article written by a Red & Black Staff member.

Emree P. Downey

Red & Black diversity staff writer

International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an annual federal celebration on Feb. 11. This day is dedicated to celebrating females in the STEM field, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. The United Nations signified this day back on Dec. 22, 2015, when they recognized the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. In the past fifty years, women have gone from representing only 8 percent of the STEM workforce to 27 percent. While these numbers may not be significantly drastic, they are continuing to increase for this underrepresented group.

As an African-American woman in STEM, I can personally say that it is difficult to stay motivated to remain in this field. Hardly anyone looks like you and many people doubt your abilities. You must work twice as hard as your white counterparts to feel like you have a leg-up and there are many times where you are not even credited for your work. For example, Katherine

Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were three African-American female scientists who worked for NASA from the 1930s to the 1960s. They were very gifted mathematicians and scholars but were solely hired as number crunchers. It was not until President Roosevelt signed an executive order in 1941 which prohibits racial discrimination in the workplace that these women were able to reach their full potential.

Though it is wonderful to have a day dedicated to women and girls who have helped further the development of science and technology, perhaps workplace equity should be considered instead. Statistically, women are given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and only 12 percent of members of the national science academies are women, even though they represent one-third of all researchers. These same researchers also tend to have less well-paid careers, as they are often passed over for promotion.

So, as we have seen, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a great hats-off attempt at congratulating women in STEM, however this is only the beginning of the well-deserved, overdue recognition that we aspire to obtain.

Courtesy katleho Seisa via Getty Images A lack of gender and racial diversity makes it difficult to offer inclusive work spaces.