Spotlight on Women and Girls in Science

This Monday was the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and there is a lot to celebrate—and discuss—now and every day. At a time when less than 30 percent of researchers worldwide are women and girls and women still face biases, stereotypes, and barriers to entry both in education and in careers in science; we have a long way to go—but progress is being made, and has always been made, by determined girls and women.

Here are a few articles that captured our attention as we celebrate the intelligence, curiosity, and drive of girls and women; explore progress being made and issues that affect women and girls in science, and look at the contributions women have made in science throughout history.

7 Women Inspiring Twitter on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, from Mashable—Twitter celebrated women scientists on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science with the hashtag #WomenInScience. Mashable shares the stories of seven remarkable women scientists.

Want to Be a Woman in Science? Here Is Advice From Those Who’ve Gone Before, from iAfrica—“Science can be like a family ... Surround yourself with excellence. This is especially important for women. Don’t underestimate yourself, aim high and be around people and colleagues who intellectually challenge you.”

Is This the Year of Women in Science?, from Forbes—Science educator Melanie Fine explores the limits in making any one year the “year of” women in science—and looks optimistically to continued gains for all women in scientific fields: “With the numbers of women entering scientific fields growing each year, there are now more women than men enrolled in the U.S. in both science-related bachelors and graduate degree programs. We should expect to see these numbers rise in the near future.”

This Is Why I’ve Written 500 Biographies of Female Scientists on Wikipedia, from The Independent—Jess Wade, a British physicist, discusses the importance of representation and her journey improving the representation of women scientists and engineers on: “The lack of diversity in science is more than just unfair – it impacts the science we do and the systems we create.”

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Holiday Gifts for the STEM Girl in Your Life

It's always a great time to encourage and nurture a love for science, technology, and math for girls—and the holidays are a perfect time to find gifts that inspire the young scientist in your life to discover, play, create, code, build, and explore their world. Click through for a fascinating (and fun!) selection of STEM gifts.

By Nitasha Syed

You know holiday season is here when your overnight delivery game goes up 10 notches and you see the words BOGO wherever you go. Gift buying is not an easy process so here is a go-to list of items that are perfect to inspire young girls in your life to take interest in math and science!

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'Science Wide Open' Aims to Change the Game for Girls In Science

Women scientists rock. And although women have made discoveries throughout history and many start out with a keen interest in science, there is still a gender bias in most scientific fields--and it starts with little girls.

We're big believers in the saying "if she can't see it, she can't be it," so we were thrilled to see the book series Kickstarter Science Wide Open succeed wildly, exceeding its goal by more than ten times.

Science Wide Open, by John Coveyou, will teach "some basic concepts in chemistry, biology and physics in simple and memorable terms by using the natural questions and curiosity of a young child"--but the coolest thing is that the series will do so by telling the stories of women scientists throughout history. The author hopes to inspire a generation of young girls to strive to explore the mysteries of science, just like boys and men have always been encouraged to do.

Coveyou has covered science for young minds before, and has a passion for tapping into the well of wonder and curiosity that drives young people to learn and discover the world around them. It was his daughter that motivated him to represent women in his latest series. Click through to learn more, and keep teaching our young girls and boys to explore and care for the world!

observer.com - Despite the fact that women-led companies perform three times better than those with male CEOs, women in the U.S. earn only 28 percent of computer science degrees, own only 5 percent of tech startups and hold only 11 percent of executive positions at Silicon Valley companies. They make up only 29 percent of the science and engineering workforce, and only 11 percent of physicists and astronomers are women. No matter which part of the STEM world you look into, women are underrepresented. And throughout history, many of the discoveries of female scientists have been actively diminished and sometimes even stolen. That’s not to say girls and women aren’t interested in science, though—a 2012 study from the Girl Scout Institute found 75 percent of girls were interested in fields related to science, technology, engineering and math.

So where are the women scientists? The gender gap in STEM certainly has to do with bias, but the real reason there are so few women in science starts long before they’re ready for careers. It starts when they’re toddlers.

From an early age, girls are—both indirectly and directly—discouraged from pursuing math and science. They’re given (or at least marketed) dolls and play kitchens, while boys are naturally thought to want LEGOs and microscopes. A new Kickstarter from Genius Games, however, is trying to change that with a series of children’s books about women scientists that is both educational and inspiring. It’s called Science Wide Open and has already raised over $30,000 in just the first three days, which is five times its goal.

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Photos: Girls rule at Ocean Science conference

We're always happy to see girls encouraged to get their hands on some science—literally. So we loved discovering the Girls in Ocean Science Conference. As part of its ongoing effort to get girls excited about ocean science and involved with hands-on reserach, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography welcomed more than 100 middle school girls to an ocean science conference. Women scientists from UCLA, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Algalita Marine Research and Education and more teach workshops and discuss careers in areas like oceanography, marine ecology, biochemistry and deep sea science. Learn more about the workshop, and the Institute's ongoing effort, by reading the full article.

ocregister.com - DANA POINT – Serena Chuc couldn’t get enough of looking at the bright green and blue species of coral on the ocean floor.

Thanks to special software from a researcher at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the 13-year-old Capistrano Beach girl could see the different types of coral and find out why they look the way they do. She also learned about key components of reef habitats and why coral can be found in so many spots in the world’s oceans.

“I thought it was really interesting because coral is so beautiful and it can adapt to live in all different waters,” Chuc said.

Chuc, a student at Shorecliffs Middle School in San Clemente, was among more than 100 middle school girls from Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties who took advantage of a girls-only ocean science conference Saturday at the Ocean Institute.

The event was part the institute’s 11-year effort to get girls in middle and high school interested in all types of ocean sciences with hands-on training and workshops. Presentations were held aboard the institute’s research vessel, the Sea Explorer, and at the institute’s labs.

Eight female scientists from institutions including UCLA, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Algalita Marine Research and Education were on hand to help the girls explore careers in such areas as oceanography, marine ecology, biochemistry and deep sea science.

Read more here.