Twenty years ago, when one of us (E.W.) joined the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne, Australia, women represented only 13% of the academic staff. By the end of 2017, the figure was still only 16%, despite efforts to bridge the gender gap. For years, women were told by those working in the field that they simply had to be patient as the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce caught up with social movements, and that a new generation of young female engineering and science graduates was coming through. But that hasn’t happened. Despite a small increase in the number of women studying STEM subjects as undergraduates or postgraduates in Australia, female enrolment in these fields was only 36% of the total in 2019. Female representation in science and engineering, especially at the senior level, is still appallingly low. Find out how a one-year recruitment drive led to an unprecedented increase in women faculty across STEM departments at The University of Melbourne.

Dr. Holly Porter found meaningful work in forensic biology, but she had to overcome obstacles to get there. For SummerOfScience, she shares her story and advice. As a DNA analyst at the Baltimore City Police Department her role involves completing the technical as well as analytical steps involved in recovering and analyzing DNA from evidence items. In addition, she authors reports, review the work of other analysts, and testify in court. She has more recently begun working on audit teams to assess crime laboratories to ensure that they are maintaining high standards and performing quality work.

Dr. Christina Chuck shares how food engineering impacts society and the status. Her profession is food engineering, a multidisciplinary area that leverages chemistry, biochemistry, nutrition, microbiology, and engineering to solve problems associated with the food system. Food science and engineering use scientific principles to overcome storage, processing, packaging, and food distribution challenges. Her mission is to use science to make healthier and nutritious foods readily accessible to all, to improve the lives of countless people struggling with food-related diseases.

The JWST is poised to unlock revolutionary discoveries. Astrophysicist Dr. Jane Rigby is charged with figuring out how best to harness the capabilities of this amazing observatory. “Give me a telescope, and I can come up with something good to do with it,” says Jane Rigby, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who serves as the agency’s operations project scientist for the $10-billion James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most powerful off-world observatory yet built by humankind. Over the course of her career, Rigby has used many of the world’s premier ground- and space-based astronomical facilities - and she is helming one of Webb’s many “early release science” campaigns front-loaded for its first year of observations, utilizing the telescope to study star formation in galaxies across eons of cosmic time. But her main work with Webb is to work with her team to ensure everyone fortunate enough to use it can do “something good,” by looking after the full breadth of scientific investigations the telescope will perform for researchers around the globe during its planned five-year primary mission. This is no small task: For those hoping to squeeze as much science as possible out of this one-of-a-kind observatory, each and every moment of Webb’s time is precious - and Rigby oversees the schedule.

Title IX was passed on June 23, 1972, by the United States Congress for the purpose of prohibiting sex discrimination in any education setting or other activity that receives funding from government assistance. Title IX states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Over the years, Title IX has provided protection and justice for victims of sexual harassment and assault, students that are pregnant and parenting, members of the LGBTQ+ community, teachers, coaches, and athletes. Read about the history of Title IX, why it’s still relevant, and recommendations for institutions and policymakers in Title IX at 50 a report by the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE). AWIS is a member of NCWGE.

"Physics taught me that time moves like an arrow, always pointing forward. But I’d argue time is more like a tightly wound spiral. The names and faces are new at each turn, but this feeling that we don’t belong has hardly budged." Important article by Katrina Miller, a physics PhD student and journalist.

The theme of this year’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences DEIAB (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging) Speaker Series is Why I Belong in CS. The series, a mix of in-person and virtual events, hosted University of Florida professors Jeremy Waisome and Kyla McMullen for a podcast on March 30. Waisome and McMullen host Modern Figures, a conversational-style podcast they created that elevates the voices of Black women in computing. Their podcast is presented by the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Science in collaboration with the National Center for Women & Information Technology. Through Modern Figures, McMullen and Waisome share stories about women and girls in computing, aiming to reach students where they are and dismantle the idea of the stereotype-advancing “single story.” Each podcast follows a similar trajectory to tell the story of each guest - childhood, education, work experience, present career, and future goals - with a focus on who pointed them towards computing. They want their podcasts to be understood by everyone, regardless of how much experience listeners have with computing and technology. They especially hope to engage with high schoolers and encourage them to consider computing-related fields.

Tamara Terry started out at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, as a telephone interviewer. Fast forward 20 years: she's RTI's Research Survey Scientist; Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Leadership Council Domestic Outreach Chair; and University Collaborations HBCU Relationship Manager. Read more about her impactful career - and her amazing advice.

Chien-Shiung Wu, the pioneering Chinese-American physicist who helped revolutionize the science of nuclear physics, was born on this day in 1912. Nicknamed the "First Lady of Physics" and the "Queen of Nuclear Research," Wu is best known for conducting the Wu Experiment, which disproved the hypothetical law of the conservation of parity. Although Wu devised the experiment which disproved this long-held theory -- and was lauded for providing the “solution to the number-one riddle of atomic and nuclear physics" -- she was overlooked when the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to two of her male colleagues, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang, for their work on the theoretical aspect of the research. Having to overcome significant sexism during her long career in a heavily male-dominated field, Wu once mused at a 1964 symposium, "I wonder, whether the tiny atoms and nuclei, or the mathematical symbols, or the DNA molecules have any preference for either masculine or feminine treatment.” Wu was born in China and excelled throughout her academic career there, but at the recommendation of one of her graduate supervisors, she set off for the US in 1936 to attend the University of Michigan for her PhD in nuclear physics. However, when she learned that women weren’t allowed to use the front entrance at Michigan, she decided to attend the University of California, Berkeley instead. She completed her PhD in 1940 and was recruited for the Manhattan Project’s Substitute Alloy Materials Laboratories in 1944. There, she helped develop the process for separating uranium metal into uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. After WWII, she took a position at Columbia University, where she would remain for the rest of her highly productive career. Although she was passed over for the Nobel, Wu received many accolades for her pioneering work, including the first ever Wolf Prize in Physics. Wu continued to do research late into her life; she passed away in 1997 at the age of 84.

Dr. Joyner Eke's career story is defined by determination - from engineering school in Nigeria, to a PhD from University of Kentucky, to her current work in life-saving scientific research at ThermoFisher Scientific. Read her story for many valuable lessons.