STEM Trailblazers: Leading Women in Science and Tech 

Are you a woman who wants to know more about women and their capabilities? Or are you a woman who does not want to know about women and their capabilities? In either of the cases, we’ll discuss the STEM trailblazers: leading women in science and tech.

Women have always played a key role in shaping humanity as it stands today. Be it the modern advancements or the ones leading to them. At any point in history, women have been pioneers of countless initiatives, one after the other.

We shall take a look at the women who steered science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the past as well as the flag bearers of STEM fields today. 

Stick around, and you will find yourself diving deeper and deeper as we proceed.

THE PAST

Let’s start off with the ones who were the stepping stones of modern progress. The women who set the tone and provided a clear path to achieving huge milestones for the generations to come. 

Marie Curie

Marie Curie is the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, not once but twice, in two completely different fields: physics and chemistry! Her husband was a co-winner in her first one, and they became the first couple to win the Nobel Prize. 

She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris in 1906. She was the person who discovered the elements Polonium and Radium. 

She pioneered the use of X-rays in World War 1. Curie died in 1934, aged 66, and the cause of her death was neoplastic anaemia caused by the exposure to abnormal amounts of radiation. 

She is the perfect example of dedication and hard work and a role model for many to come. 

Rosalind Franklin 

Rosalind Franklin was a biologist who made key contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA. She studied physical chemistry at the University of Cambridge and got her PhD from the same university in 1945. 

She later used her expertise in X-ray crystallography, and the early images from her research revealed crucial insights on the DNA structure. 

Franklin was diagnosed with cancer in 1956, and she passed away in 1958. She has always been a beacon of light for women pursuing careers in biology.

Katherine Johnson 

Johnson worked for NASA and was a key figure in the first-ever manned mission to the moon, i.e. Apollo 11. She also played a key role in calculating trajectories of other important missions. 

She was born in 1918, and having worked in the field of mathematics throughout her life, she offered her services to NASA for 33 years. The space agency acknowledged her role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist. 

Such an illustrious career came to an end in 2020 when she passed away in a retirement home at the age of 101. She is still a great motivation and a mentor to women interested in space and astronomy. 

Sarah Elizabeth Stewart

Sarah was born in 1905 and earned her degree in microbiology in 1939 and began working as a professor in microbiology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and she was the first woman to earn an MD from the University. 

Stewart continued working for cancer research at NIH and sought out links between cancer and polyomaviruses. 

Her work was nominated for the Nobel Prize twice and it was the key for further developments in the prevention of cervical cancer. She is indeed a role model for women in oncology and research. 

Jane Cooke Wright 

Wright is widely known as the mother of chemotherapy. She was born in 1919 to a family well-respected in science and medicine. Her father was an oncologist, and she followed in his footsteps to earn her medical degree and join the oncology staff at Harlem Hospital. 

The father-daughter duo set out to advance in the nascent chemotherapy and formulated the initial research papers on it. 

One of their major goals was the eradication of disparity in healthcare and cancer research. Thousands of people get treated today thanks to her devotion to research and chemotherapy. She died in 2013 and left behind a legacy for others to follow. 

THE PRESENT 

Having taken a look at the pioneers and researchers who started it all, there are countless examples of some exemplary women following in their footsteps and doing wonders in their respective fields. 

Let’s shift the focus of our discussion to the young blood. 

Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski 

Pasterski is a physicist who has been called the “next Einstein” for her ground-breaking research on black holes and quantum gravity. 

She earned her PhD in physics from Harvard University at just 24 years of age, and she also got featured in Forbes 30 Under 30. She was the lead coordinator for Strings 2023 and is a deputy director of the newly formed Simons Collaboration on Celestial Holography.

Having such experience behind her, backed by her abilities and productivity, she is a living role model for young girls to look up to and follow in her footsteps. 

Ayanna Howard 

Howard is a roboticist and computer scientist who specialises in assistive technologies for disabled people. She is the CEO of Zyrobotics, which aims at creating technologies and games for differently abled children. 

She is also a deputy manager at NASA-JPL, Office of the Chief Scientist. She is widely recognized as one of “The Most Powerful Women Engineers” by Business Insider and one of the “Top 50 U.S. Women in Tech” by Forbes. 

Ayanna Howard has a very lengthy portfolio that purposefully does justice to her skills and experience with technology and innovation. 

Meredith Whittaker 

Meredith Whittaker, being one of the leading voices in AI, is the president of the Signals Foundation and serves on its board of directors. 

She was formerly the Minderoo Research Professor at New York University (NYU) and the co-founder and faculty director of the AI Now Institute. She joined Google in 2006 and founded Google Open Research. She has been a big advocate of issues related to AI and data privacy. 

Whittaker was a speaker at the 2018 World Summit on AI. She has written for the American Civil Liberties Union and also co-founded M-Lab. There is a long list of achievements in her field, and we certainly cannot go through all of them at once. 

She continues to actively grow and provide her expertise for the development of tech and AI. 

Julie Sweet

Julie Sweet is the CEO of Accenture, a multinational professional services company. The New York Times and Fortune have named her among the most powerful women in corporate America. 

According to Wikipedia, Accenture named Sweet its CEO in September 2019, the first woman to hold that position. At the time of her appointment, she was one of 27 women leading companies in the S&P 500 and the 15th female CEO of all Fortune Global 500 companies. 

Her professionalism and experience speak volumes of her abilities in the field of technology. Women like her continue to be a beacon of light for the younger generations to come. 

JoAnn E. Manson

Dr. Manson is an endocrinologist, epidemiologist, and principal investigator of several research studies. She has received numerous awards, including the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Population Research Prize and the AHA’s Distinguished Scientist Award. 

She served as the president of the North American Menopause Society. Dr. Manson has published more than 1,200 articles and is the author or editor of several books and textbooks. She was also one of the physicians featured in the National Library of Medicine’s exhibition, History of American Women Physicians.

Doctors like her definitely serve the purpose of betterment in health care and patient safety. She is a mentor to thousands of others following in her footsteps. 

Now that we have briefly gone through some of the leading women in the current day and age, let’s conclude it in a nutshell. 

CONCLUSION

Women have continued to be an aspiration and have played a huge role in building and framing scientific methods and mindsets. Be it the past, the present, or the future, they will keep shining through and putting up efforts for the betterment of the world as a whole. 

Women like them have been a source of motivation for many young girls, stepping up and breaking stereotypical norms and overcoming other challenges. 

Have you ever wanted to idealise and follow them? What steps will you take to start and get going for your own, and how do they inspire you? Let us know.