A professional French horn player and six scientists boarded a ship headed to Antarctica for one month. What sounds like the start of an odd joke actually describes a group of women who set sail for the icy continent on the R/V Sikuliaq last winter. The researchers' main goal for the expedition was to study sea ice and the organisms that call it home, but their mission carried deeper significance: proving that women do belong in the polar sciences. The National Science Foundation funded a grant for the scientists, from universities across the country, to research and understand different aspects of sea ice on the eastern side of the West Antarctica Peninsula. The six women were originally set to join the foundation's chief scientist training program, where early-career scientists spend weeks on a research vessel collecting data and conducting experiments for their studies. This training was slated for summer 2024 but was abruptly canceled just 36 hours before the team was supposed to depart due to mechanical problems with the ship.

In a world where AI is everywhere, shaping how we learn, create, and make decisions, how are we preparing students to understand it? This National AI Literacy Day, Girls Who Code is helping students go beyond the output. Their Clubs curriculum featuring AI and machine learning introduces 10 foundational lessons designed to help upper elementary students understand how AI works and explore its real-world impact. Designed by educators for educators, the unit includes everything you need to teach with confidence. You can download their free AI Literacy Unit to learn foundational lessons on AI and machine learning concepts including feature extraction, pattern recognition, and training data. 10 plugged and unplugged lessons build learners’ understanding of how AI works and the real-world impact and considerations of AI.

Raise your voice for women in STEM. From March 30 through April 12, congressional representatives will be in their home district offices. Sydney Woods, a member of the AWIS Advocacy Committee, offers advice on how contact and meet with your representatives to advocate for women in STEM.

Do professional platforms like you better as a man? AWIS member Marissa Russo investigates whether you need to choose between using language that gets visibility or language that authentically reflects yourself and your work on LinkedIn.

Calling all undergraduate & graduate students!
Showcase your research at the SWE Collegiate Poster & Rapid Fire Competitions at WE26 in Boston! Why participate? Present your original research or engineering-related work, Win cash prizes! Top 10 finalists in each category receive funding to attend WE26 (Nov. 05-07, 2026)

The 2026 Lab Manager Leadership Summit, April 20-22, in Phoenix, Arizona, is a premier in-person conference designed for laboratory directors, managers, and emerging leaders across research, clinical, academic, and industry settings. Attendees will experience expert-led keynote sessions, interactive workshops, peer networking, and exclusive lab tour opportunities - plus actionable tools they can immediately implement in their own organizations.

In recognition of International Women’s Day, SWE’s virtual networking sessions bring together women in engineering and technology from around the world to connect, share, and grow - embracing the spirit of GiveToGain. Hosted by SWE Global Ambassadors, these interactive sessions are designed as fast-paced virtual speed-networking experiences, offering participants the opportunity to exchange insights, offer support, and gain new perspectives while connecting with dozens of peers and leaders in just one hour. Sessions reflect SWE’s global community and may be hosted in English, Mandarin, Portuguese, or Spanish.

Join the NCWITworkforce Alliance for their next Quarterly Meeting with Dr. Brad McLain — NCWIT's very own, and an expert leader on identity, inclusive culture construction, and change leadership within organizations. This webinar will provide a grounded look at the current cultural and technology climate and its implications for leadership.

The 16th Advancing Women’s Leadership in Pharma & Healthcare Conference brings together women and allies actively shaping the healthcare landscape. Connect with industry leaders, expand your network, and benefit from exclusive access to industry updates March 24-25 in San Diego, California. If you are an aspiring professional in the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and healthcare sector, this room is built for you. This is more than a conference - it’s a movement to empower women, champion equity, and transform leadership across life sciences and healthcare. Together, women will showcase trailblazing leaders, exchange practical strategies to solve existing roadblocks, and create a community of women and allies committed to breaking barriers and lifting each other higher.

Women in STEM often lead within systems that weren’t designed with them in mind—yet they are expected to navigate those systems, create impact, and drive change all the same. Understanding how power, influence, and decision-making actually operate can be the difference between working harder and leading more strategically. Drawing on her experience as a former federal healthcare research executive, clinical psychologist, and leadership consultant in STEM environments, Dr. Mira Brancu introduces a practical four-level framework for strategic influence. This session helps make invisible workplace dynamics visible—so participants can better understand where they have leverage and how to use it intentionally across individual, team, organizational, and systems levels. Through real-world stories from research, clinical, and academic settings, Dr. Brancu brings these concepts to life and offers concrete strategies participants can apply immediately. Attendees will explore how to: Identify where power and influence show up across individual, team, organizational, and systems levels; Make invisible workplace dynamics visible and use them as a strategic advantage; Lead with greater agency when shaping teams, culture, and decisions; Apply a practical framework for advancing both individual impact and collective progress in STEM environments. Designed to meet participants wherever they are in their careers—from early-career professionals building momentum to experienced leaders shaping teams and systems—this session offers practical tools for sustained influence and meaningful change.