11 Inspiring Women in STEM

This Women’s Day, let’s celebrate the lesser-known but nonetheless inspiring women in STEM. They are less well-known, not because of their work, but because historically women in STEM fields have been downplayed.

These “Inspiring Women in STEM” are shattering stereotypes like “Boys are better at math” or “Girls can’t read maps.”

According to the Center for American Education Research, boys and girls have equal achievement in math and science. But despite this, only 28% of women make up the STEM workforce.

This is disappointing! We need to do better for our girls.

As parents, it is very important to read about these women to your children, especially girls. These women can be their role models – super women to emulate!

For boys, they inspire and neutralize male rights and gender stereotypes. Either way, these women deserve to be known, and they are a great positive influence on your children.

Inspiring women in STEM

1. Margret Hamilton

She was responsible for coding Apollo 11, the same spacecraft that took us into space. She hand-wrote the Apollo 11 code with her team. Being the only woman never bothered her…she was used to it.

Extremely enthusiastic about her work, she often took her daughter with her to the NASA lab, working late and on weekends. This amazing woman was so dedicated not only to her mission but also to her child.

Quick Tip: Get your kids to love coding with our comprehensive Coding for Kids resource!

2. Damianti Gupta

Born in British India, Damianti Gupta became an engineer at a time when very few women even considered becoming one.

Forget that era, in 2001, when I was in Engineering College, there were hardly any girls. To be precise, we were almost 40 girls in a group of 350 students.

She went on to work in the still gender-dominated automotive industry, becoming the first female engineer at Ford Automobiles.

3. Stephanie Chiras and Hillary Hunter

These two women are the driving force behind IBM – the brain behind their supercomputer. And this supercomputer is not just another supercomputer in its league… it is the most powerful supercomputer out there right now.

On topic: If your kids love these real-life superheroes, we’re sure they’ll love reading about them, too. Add some children’s biographies to your child’s reading routine to encourage them and make them believe in the power of their dreams.

4. Kalpana Chawla

A name that is forever etched in our memory. The woman who took Indian women into space. Kalpana was born in the small town of Karnal, Haryana. The youngest of four siblings, Kalpana loved stargazing as a child.

After graduating with an engineering degree from the Punjab College of Engineering, she moved to the US to continue her studies. She worked for NASA for several years before becoming an astronaut.

5. Amelia Earhart

She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia championed the place of women in aviation and set many records to prove that women are capable of anything. She was the first woman to fly solo above 14,000 feet.

Also the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, a military award given for heroism or extraordinary achievements while participating in an aerial flight.

She also became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the United States mainland in 1935.

6. Gladys West

This is the woman who made our lives so much easier, the woman who introduced GPS. One of the few women hired for advanced technical work, West worked on the initial foundation of GPS technology, formulating advanced algorithms that helped create an extremely accurate model of the Earth.

This model is the basis of GPS, a technology that has revolutionized military, transportation and cellular technologies.

In 1956, she was hired as a mathematician at the US Naval Weapons Laboratory. contributed to the astronomical study of the movement of Pluto relative to Neptune.

Notably, she was the only black woman on her team to participate in this award-winning planetary exploration.

7. Shoushi Bakarian

This young 22-year-old refugee is the brain behind the latest aviation innovations at Stratos Aviation, where she works part-time.

This young lady juggles two part-time jobs while studying aerospace engineering at Montreal’s Concordia University. This is a name to watch out for!

8. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan

Deputy Director General and Chief Scientist of the WHO, she is nothing short of extraordinary.

A pediatrician by specialty, she has more than 30 years of experience in medicine and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.

9. Muthaiya Vanitha and Ritu Karidal

These two Indian women worked tirelessly to put Chandrayaan II into space. Working as project and mission director respectively, they have truly made every Indian daughter and every woman around the world proud.

Any girl who doubts her smarts in these male-dominated arenas can take inspiration from these two strong women. Nothing is impossible!

10. Ann Makosinski

A young Canadian inventor has developed a flashlight called Hollow FlashLight, which uses body heat as an energy source. No batteries required!

The creation of the flashlight was inspired by the desire to help a friend who had no electricity at night and was studying hard. She is undoubtedly an inspiration to young women who aspire to make their mark in the STEM field.

11. Gitanjali Rao

This 13-year-old boy holds the title of America’s Best Young Scientist for inventing a life-saving device that can detect lead in water. This young innovator was inspired for his affordable solution after witnessing the water crisis in Michigan.

Source: 11 Inspiring Women in STEM