Women in STEM and the Need for Role Models
One of the biggest problems for women to pursue a career in science is a lack of role models. Moreover, social conditioning also leads to young girls to believe that a career in science is one which is masculine in nature, for instance the whole idea of “scientific temperament” is often associated with younger boys than girls. One of the major ways to inspire more young girls to take up careers in science is to give them role models and this can only happen if women who already are in science are highlighted. Certain people and organisations have realised this problem and have started working in this direction. IndiaBioScience, a non-profit initiative within the Life Science sector organised a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon in Bangalore last week, to coincide with the Ada Lovelace Day on October 14, 2014. Over 40 entries and edits to pages were made to pages on women scientists from India, to plug the woefully inadequate representation of women’s contribution to science in India.
Karthik Ramaswamy, visiting scientist at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a participant in the edit-a-thon, quoted to The Hindu that science in India has a ‘diversity problem’ with Indian women and minorities represented inadequately.
However, now things are changing and the good news is that there is an increasing number of women receiving an education in the sciences in India. Working in science has not been easy for women, with its long hours, societal biases, and the need to get married and have children in between. Let’s look at some of these women, often forgotten heroes, who have made great contributions to science and paved the way for others.
Women in science continue to be invisible in media and popular Indian culture. However, in the recent years steps have been taken by some organisations to highlight the contribution of women in science one such example is that of science journalists Nandita Jayaraj and Aashima Dogra who have been “labhopping” around India and interacting with women scientists. There work has been instrumental in creating a space for women scientists to share their experiences of struggles and victories. The have compiled there work in two books, called “Labhopping: Realities of Indian Women in Science” and “Thirty Fantastic Women Scientists of India”.
