Want to spend a day in the life of a scientist? In just fifteen questions, Biologist Pardis C. Sabeti talks about the ins and outs of the lab and the hurdles she faces as a woman in STEM. Pardis C. Sabeti is a professor at the Center for Systems Biology and the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease at Harvard School of Public Health, institute member of the Broad institute, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. She does work in computational biology, medical genetics, and evolutionary genetics.

AWIS recently invited Mona-Lee Belizaire, a Jamaican-born personal growth strategist and speaker, to share her ideas in a webinar. Belizaire, creator of the I Am Choosing Me movement and host of the weekly show “The Best Investment,” opened the webinar by inviting us to participate in a mindset moment, asking us to think about what we are proudest of accomplishing this year. She noted that as we review our professional, health, and social goals, we should take the opportunity to stop and celebrate what we have achieved so far. She congratulated everyone! Belizaire loves working with women and acknowledges that we wear multiple hats that represent our different roles and responsibilities. She passionately believes, however, that as we deal with the complexity in our lives, we must show up as one person in all the spaces that we inhabit. In her work, she offers key advice about how each of us can work to consistently be ourselves, particularly by defining a personal vision, and she shared some of her insights during the webinar.

The SWE Early Career Professional Affinity Group’s spotlight month continues with this advice blog from ECP AG Community Development Co-Chair Alyssa Acosta. While everyone deals with self-doubt every now and then, women tend to criticize themselves 25% more often than men [1, 2]. The criticism can refer to one’s appearance, competency, or intelligence. The result of such self-criticism can cause more than just negative impacts on your emotional well-being, but also impact your ability to advocate for yourself. According to Saima Rana, CEO/principal, GEMS World Academy Dubai and chief education officer at GEMS Education, self-advocacy in the workplace is one of the main barriers to women’s progression. In a recent study, 41% of 2,100 women surveyed said they do not self-advocate enough in their workplace. In a male-dominated field like engineering, this self-criticism and lack of self-advocacy can be multiplied. We have likely all dealt with this at one point in our educational or professional careers. Imposter syndrome ring a bell? This is especially true when first starting a career. It can be daunting to begin your career when there are still so many things that are unknown. Now in my fourth year of my professional career, I can see that my own imposter syndrome was not only bad for my own mental health, but also affected my work. I found myself being afraid to ask what I interpreted as “dumb questions.” I doubted my work at every submission, which caused me to take more time on tasks and hindered my learning. Well, I am here to say, there are no “dumb questions” when you are starting out your career. You are more than competent enough to be an engineer. You likely made it through four-plus years of engineering coursework, so stop being so mean to yourself. Of course, this is easier said than done, and I would not leave you without some tips on breaking this cycle. Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, host, and founder of Therapy for Black Girls, gives five tips to overcoming your self-doubt.

Three youth technologists talk about their receiving the Aspirations in Computing award and their future careers in computing and technology. Featuring Paige Frank, Ahmya Rivera, and Neha Shukla. The NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) High School Award honors 9th-12th grade women, genderqueer, and non-binary students for their computing-related achievements and interests, and encourages them to pursue their passions. Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and future plans. Since 2007, more than 25,000 students have received an AiC Award.

For years we've been telling girls that they can grow up and be anything they want, but words aren't enough in the male-dominated world of STEM. Esteemed scientist Dr Lucia Romani is a world leader in epidemiological research and tells 9Honey it's vital for girls to actually see women like them not just entering the scientific world, but thriving there. "It's really, really important. We've seen this not only for women, but for a lot of other minorities or areas where people do not feel represented by the leaders in front of them," Dr Romani says. "Especially in leadership positions, it's still quite a male-dominated field, research and science… but [change] is possible," she continues. Growing up in Italy, Romani was always a curious child but never really considered a career in STEM until she crossed paths with an incredible woman scientist who showed her it was possible. She had become interested in social sciences towards the end of her high school years, specifically social injustice and how disparities between certain communities impacted access to things like healthcare. But it wasn't until she got her first job and worked alongside the woman who would become one of her first mentors that Romani realised what a woman like her could achieve in the science world.

Marietta Blau, PhD, was an Austrian physicist who developed photographic emulsions that could be used to capture the tracks of speeding subatomic particles. This method could also be used to accurately study reactions caused by cosmic ray events. In 1937, working with her colleague Hertha Wambacher, Blau found the first hard evidence of the disintegration of the nuclei of a heavy atom by the impact of another particle. This discovery launched the field of particle physics. Blau was forced to leave Austria in 1938 due to the country’s annexation by Nazi Germany, causing a severe break in her career. She was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Physics, and once for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but never won. In 1950 the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Cecil F. Powell, who had built on Blau’s work and perfected the photographic emulsion method, using it to discover pions in cosmic rays.

Meet Malika Kapri, president of the Girls Who Code chapter at Georgia State and computer science major. This soon-to-be graduate recently accepted a full-time position to work for EY as a technology consultant helping businesses implement software. After listening to several panelists during a Girls Who Code event on Georgia State's Atlanta Campus, computer science major Malika Kapri knew she’d made the right decision to pursue a career in tech. What she didn’t realize at the time was how underrepresented women are in STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - jobs across the United States. Kapri, originally from India, said she wanted to make a positive impact in the lives of women aspiring to work in STEM. Women make up one third of the STEM workforce in the U.S., according to a National Science Foundation report. Kapri, who graduates in December, has helped mentor women at GSU, even helping organize the school’s first all-women hackathon event called HackHers. At HackHers, sponsored by Girls Who Code, participants were tasked with creating a code, a presentation, a physical product or an app mock-up that would enhance the everyday lives of women. Representatives from Google, Uber, FanDuel, AT&T and Southern Company were in attendance.

Don't miss out on the chance to network and hone your professional development skills at the 2024 NPA Annual Conference! The NPA Annual Conference is the largest national conference and networking event dedicated to the postdoctoral community. Conference attendees - postdoctoral scholars, administrators, faculty, and representatives from disciplinary societies, industry, and corporations - are provided with the opportunity to gather and enhance their professional development and leadership skills.

Mojo Supermarket continues its innovative work with Girls Who Code by rolling out GirlJams, described as “an AI songwriting experience” that helps girls play around with artificial intelligence, a field that’s largely male dominated. Created with digital studio Buttermax, GirlJams invites girls to create a song using multiple AI technologies, while also learning the basics of AI generally. User supply a prompt for the subject matter of the song, and ChatGPT generates the song title and lyrics. They also input the genre of music (pop, hip-hop, etc.) and the feel of the song (upbeat, soulful, etc.) - as well as a prompt for Stable Diffusion to create the album art.
GirlJams then produces a demo of the song for users to share.

Catherine Hunt Ryan, President of Bechtel’s Manufacturing & Technology business, joined us on Diverse: a SWE podcast to talk manufacturing, technology, and leadership! Recorded live at the WE23 Diverse Podcast Studio, Catherine explores recent legislation and trends that are shaping the manufacturing landscape in this interview with SWE Past President Dayna Johnson. Listen to the episode, sponsored by Bechtel.