This 13-year-old shows girls how to chase their dreams at any age. It’s not every day you get to start your STEM journey at NASA. For Alena Analeigh McQuarter, her journey into the field of science was far beyond a few textbooks and planetarium trips. The 13-year-old went every summer to NASA and even interned at the space program before she went to college. Yes, college.The Fort Worth, Texas native is currently a college student at Arizona State University and Oakwood University. With an early start to her collegiate career, she holds the title of the youngest African American to get accepted into medical school at 13. In addition to being a teen prodigy, the STEM princess herself was featured as a speaker for Yahoo’s The MAKERS Conference in Dana Point, California, where she will be discussing how she is re-writing the future and helping to pave the way for young girls of color.

It’s no secret that Proximus attaches great importance to diversity at the workplace for many years now. As a company, they believe it’s important to keep this embedded in our culture as we strongly believe women will truly blossom if they are part of an inclusive work environment. And they make the difference every day. They lay the foundations for all our products & services and thereby deliver an essential contribution to the digitalization of Proximus & its customers on the residential & professional market. Smart cities, 5G, cloud computing. There are no limits to what you can achieve. If you see endless possibilities in the most complex technologies and want to make the most of all your IT skills, then you can join this exclusive event and ask all your questions to their team (including Proximus Digital & IT lead) & discover how you could shape the future of digital.

We are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress, exhaustion, and burnout. And we've all bought into the story that we need to choose between meaningful success and our well-being. But as Nataly Kogan will talk about in this Fireside Chat, we must change this mindset and recognize that cultivating our well-being is not a soft skill – it's non-negotiable if we want to do the work we love sustainably.

The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 AWIS Annual Awards, which recognize their career achievements, strong leadership skills, innovative thinking, and commitment to inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility of AWIS members. To ensure access, equity, and inclusivity, the awards nomination process is open to all, and nominations are accepted from both AWIS members and the general public. This year, AWIS received a number of exceptionally qualified nominations for scientists in fields from artificial intelligence to genomic characterization highlighting DEI activities ranging from revising institutional code of ethics and member conduct documents to developing interactive workshops for colleagues recognizing unconscious bias and starting an introspective journey. “Recognizing the achievements of women scientists is an integral part of the AWIS mission,” said Meredith Gibson, AWIS CEO.

You’ve probably heard in the news at least a few instances of AI gone wrong - from biases against certain groups to false facial recognition matches, the responsible use of AI has become an increasingly important topic for citizens, governments and businesses alike. In this session, speakers Chris McClean, Mehrnoosh Sameki, and Petula Brown will share their views on the discipline of digital ethics and Responsible AI, how to use tools to drive Responsible AI in practice, and an industry perspective on why Responsible AI is critical. The session will also include an open discussion for you to share your views on the topic and to ask questions you may be wondering about.

Samantha Cristoforetti will be the first European woman to command the International Space Station. In addition to being an experienced astronaut and leader, she is known for posting the first-ever TikTok from the ISS and for her popular videos chronicling daily life in space. After making the first TikTok video while aboard the International Space Station, Samantha Cristoforetti is making history once again as she’s been chosen to command the orbital outpost, making her the first European woman to do so. The European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut launched to the ISS on April 27, 2022, where she has served as lead of the U.S. Orbital Segment. But now she’s ready to take on a bigger role, serving as the commander of the ISS. Cristoforetti will officially take on the role of commander during an ISS ceremony scheduled for September 28. Upon receiving a symbolic key from fellow Expedition 67 crew member Oleg Artemyev, Cristoforetti will become the fifth European commander of the space station and the first European woman commander. The ceremony will be broadcast live and you’ll be alble to tune in at ESA’s Web TV.

Have you taken a career break and are now interested in returning to the workforce? Intel is excited to meet you through their Relaunch Your Career Program. Intel is recruiting into a variety of technical roles and has designed a program to streamline your journey back to the workforce. A career break may pose challenges and their goal is to ensure you have the support you need. Their program provides: Transitional support to ease your return to the workforce, Customized cohort coaching sessions, Dedicated mentoring and a buddy to support your re-entry and Program management with trained managers to relaunch your career with confidence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.

Girls Who Code, the international nonprofit working to close the gender gap in technology, launched its Fall 2022 Clubs program, offering both virtual and in-person options. Clubs are free after-school programs for 3rd-12th grade students and are a key to Girls Who Code’s continuous efforts to make coding education accessible and flexible for students of all backgrounds, including those from historically underrepresented groups in the Black, Latinx, and low-income communities. This year’s Clubs program includes new offerings designed to meet this critical moment in time. Understanding that some communities need resources beyond the free curriculum, Girls Who Code has launched The Clubs Fund –a benefit to help teachers and Facilitators clear their supply wishlists and successfully run their Clubs. Additionally, cybersecurity, one of the fastest growing and most consequential sectors in the tech industry, will take center stage with the Cybersecurity Clubs Challenge. Students can create a project that spreads awareness about a cyber threat in their community and will be eligible to win a cash prize of $250 and swag for themselves and their Club.

More women scientists work as professors today than at any time in history. But they’re still underpaid relative to their male colleagues with similar publication records, according to a study of more than 2300 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty members. The findings are “concerning,” says Bruce Weinberg, a professor of economics at Ohio State University, Columbus, who has studied gender bias in STEM but wasn’t involved in the new study. “One wants people to be compensated comparably for comparable work.” Overall, faculty members with stronger publication records were paid more, the researchers found based on publicly available faculty salary data from 17 research-intensive U.S. universities. But for each increment of gain in their h-index - a metric of scholarly productivity that reflects how many papers a researcher has published and how many times those papers have been cited - women saw less of a bump in their pay compared with their male colleagues, according to the study, which is in press at Scientometrics and was posted online as a preprint last week. Among faculty members with a relatively high h-index of 49, for instance, women’s salaries were roughly $6000 less than their male counterparts. It’s a shortfall that can really add up “when you look at it over a career,” says study author Christiane Spitzmüller, vice provost for academic affairs and strategy at the University of California, Merced.

We are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress, exhaustion, and burnout. And we've all bought into the story that we need to choose between meaningful success and our well-being. But as Nataly Kogan will talk about in this Fireside Chat, we must change this mindset and recognize that cultivating our well-being is not a soft skill – it's non-negotiable if we want to do the work we love in a sustainable way. As a CEO, venture capitalist, and refugee, Nataly pushed herself beyond her limit for decades, choosing success at the expense of her emotional and mental health. Her own burnout, which almost cost her the company she built, her family and herself, taught her a powerful lesson: Being a martyr and putting yourself and your emotional fitness at the bottom of your list doesn't just hurt you. It hurts your ability to do great work and be a force of good in the lives of others. Nataly brings a fundamentally new and practical approach to familiar concepts like self-care and emotional fitness. She combines research about the human brain with immediately accessible practices to help you better manage your energy and strengthen your emotional fitness so you can do the work you love without burning out.