Women in Science
Women are still a minority in STEM professions. Yet knowledge in the natural sciences, chemistry, and physics, coupled with computer science and digital skills define the world we will live in tomorrow. Dr. Daniela Werlich holds a doctorate in chemistry and works on developing special lithium-ion battery cells. She knows what it takes to get more women excited about careers involving numbers, formulas, and digital technologies.
“If I have looked further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants,” wrote one of the most influential scientists of all time, physicist Isaac Newton, in a letter to inventor Robert Hooke in 1676. Funnily enough, the motif used, the giant’s shoulders quoted, is a metaphor not devised by Newton himself. It is much older and is mentioned as early as the 12th century, as the sociologist of science Josef Merton explains in his book “On the Shoulders of Giants.”
The “shoulders of giants” carry me in my actions every day. They form the foundation of my work in researching and developing lithium-ion battery cells. And it is not only the shoulders of researchers who have made decisive contributions to my research. I think about researchers from Newton to the Nobel Prize winners in chemistry Michael Stanley Whittingham, John Bannister Goodenough, and Akira Yoshino. No, I also stand on the shoulders of giants such as Clara Immerwahr — the first German to receive a doctorate in chemistry — or on those of Ada Lovelace. She is considered one of the first female programmers of our time.
Both have also asserted themselves against social prejudices and contributed to more women becoming scientists — even though the Immerwahr case had a tragic ending.
Where are the female chemistry professors, the female physicists?
5,671 people started their chemistry studies at a German university in 2020. 45 percent of them are attributed to the female gender. However, according to calculations by the German Chemical Society, the proportion of female chemistry professors at German universities was only 16.3 percent in 2018. And the higher you go in the hierarchy, the fewer women you encounter. That doesn’t just apply to chemistry, but to all so-called ‘STEM’ subjects — we don’t even need to start with DAX companies in these areas and the situation on their boards. The pay is good, the research is innovative — and the men are still often among themselves.
The question of how to increase the much-needed proportion of qualified women in STEM professions has long been on our minds at CustomCells. Our company is ‘powered by people’. We are innovation drivers, pioneers of an electrified future. We believe in the enrichment that comes from diverse heterogeneous teams, and we try to be able to create this through an appropriate hiring policy. Nevertheless, we are still a long way from reaching our goal here. I think the gender imbalance in the STEM sector will only change by adjusting factors — both political and social.
The political factors
An interest in science develops early, at least in my experience. Wanting to experience and understand things and processes is an aspiration that children bring with them by nature. The task of parents and teachers is to meet this desire for knowledge and encourage it. While I have had the opportunity in my life to indulge my urge to explore, I know that girls’ interest in science still often fails to find an appropriate breeding ground. Studies show that it is possible to differentiate scientific interests among children by gender (Holstermann and Bögeholz, 2007). However, the current interests of young girls often do not meet the corresponding instructional design. Other studies show that interest in science remains present or grows with a different instructional design; however, this support must be provided selectively and over the long term (Mokhonko and Windaus, 2014).
Computer Science for All
In my view, a modified curriculum that reflects these needs and then takes them into account, as well as the inclusion of computer science as a compulsory school subject for all types of schools, would be two important steps to increase gender diversity in the STEM field. According to studies, adolescent girls are also more enthusiastic about STEM professions when role models are present in the family environment (Carlander, 1997). Here I try to make a small contribution to the positive image of science, not only in the family environment but also in my function as CTO. I regularly promote scientific professions at the Science Summer School of the free Waldorf School in Itzehoe. My main aim is to create visibility and show students natural sciences can be a possible career field for them.
The social factors
Keeping this in mind, it brings us to a crucial adjustment: society’s perception of women. The social image of women is changing, and nowhere can we base our social status on more giant shoulders than here. Nevertheless, it remains to be stated that the social pressure on women to present themselves in a certain way, to find spouses and have children, and to take primary responsibility for them continues to be disproportionately higher than for men. Examples include the Norwegian women volleyball players or the questions about childcare posed to Annalena Baerbock, the former candidate for chancellor and current foreign minister. This pressure restricts women in their choice of careers, in the pursuit of interests, and how they live their lives. To get more women and girls excited about science — or rather, to make more use of girls’ and women’s enthusiasm for science — we need a new societal understanding of women’s diversity. That is a task for all of us.
And companies can also contribute with an appropriate gender-equitable hiring policy, equal and transparent pay regardless of gender, flexible workplace design that allows all genders to reconcile family and career, and the promotion of gender equality competence among managers. Finally, women need to have the opportunity to network, benefit from the experience of others, and support each other. All this can help produce many new giants on whose shoulders future generations of female researchers can stand.
Master of Batteries is a publication by CustomCells, one of the leading companies in the development and series production of state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery cells.
