#IDWGS Essay: Women in Science Leadership, why not? | Author: Sharvaree Sachin Gupte

Written by: Sharvaree Sachin Gupte

A woman. According to the dictionary, a woman is an adult female human being. However, a woman is so much more.

Traditionally, people have believed women are supposed to reside in their homes and take care of the household. They are to cook, clean, care for the children, and serve their families. Yet now, as we progress in the 21st century, people have begun to adopt a much more liberal way of thinking.

When women have created history; like Marie Curie the mother of nuclear science as we know it and Tessy Thomas who is the Director General of Aeronautical Systems and the former Project Director for Agni-IV missile in the Defence Research and Development Organisation, why stop these talented women from working with their passions? Without women like Marie Curie or Tessy Thomas, humanity would have never developed.

It's time we stop discriminating against women solely because they are women, throughout history, there have been instances where women have been overshadowed by their male counterparts and their work has been discredited due to societal norms.

An example of this outrageous situation is the case of Lise Meitner also known as the Mother of the Atomic Bomb. Lise Meitner was an Austrian physicist who worked with the Nobel Prize winner Otto Hans to develop the theory of nuclear fission. Without the work of Lise, the theory would not have been completed however only Otto Hans received the Nobel Prize in 1944 while Lise was left uncredited. There have been many cases such as these throughout history and history is likely to repeat itself if we do not stop this absurd and illogical discreditation. We need to support those women who want to work in the field of science regardless of any barriers that we as a humanity have put on our women.

It has been proven that human brains can store 2.5 petabytes of data, and we have a total of approximately 3.95 billion women on this planet. If we were to reduce this unjustifiable bias, there is no doubt each of these women can contribute to the world positively and not exclusively in the science field either, but in other fields as well such as business, art, technology, etc. Each new person has new ideas and these ideas can help our humanity, especially in times like these where we need to find viable solutions to continue our development sustainably.

Due to our diminishing resources and neverending thirst for development and growth, we require new ideas that can help us develop sustainably while conserving our resources for generations to come.

Without our exceptional women in science, we would not even have had the invention of WI-FI! We wouldn’t have had this large scare global connectivity over the internet proving just how important these ideas are when it comes to the growth of our society.

Marta Cañada led the development of the most cost-effective hybrid solar panels ever created, Merlina Palencia invented an organic process to turn wastewater into clean water that can be used for irrigation purposes, and Sandra Ortiz developed eco-friendly alternatives to plastic. These remarkable achievements all invented and improved by women greatly elucidate just how important the ideas of our women are in terms of sustainable development and how inspiring they can be to the younger generation as well.

To elaborate on just how vast this field is, the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) has launched a new interview series called “Women in Green” where women inventors all around the world are given the opportunity to speak about their sustainable inventions.

Humans as a society would prosper due to these bright ideas brought forth by such talented women in science.

With more women joining science and inspiring young girls to take up these interests and hobbies as well would add a new level of ideas into society allowing us to have more inventions like solar panels, geothermal energy converters, windmills, and electric cars, all of which help us preserve resources and carve out a path towards a brighter, more sustainable and advanced future.

To encourage and foster our new generation of girls into science, there is even an organization named the WiSTEM, or, Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Gender diversity in STEM is essential for driving innovation and promoting overall progress, so why should men be 73% of all STEM workers?

It is proven that this restricted diversity in STEM fields will lead to reduced productivity and innovation. As stated before women have been essential in the development of multiple theories and sciences then why not promote this?

Let us not let the flame of innovation and sustainability be extinguished. Let us make sure our women are uplifted and supported throughout their advances in STEM, let us encourage our daughters to follow their passions, let us make our world a more sustainable version of itself with these ideas, and let us not let our women become another Lise Meitner.

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, let us make sure that our women receive the credit they are due and continue to enrich the world with their outstanding achievements.

All citations

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/science/lise-meitner-fission-nobel.html#:~:text=The%20Great%20Read-,Why%20the%20'Mother%20of%20the%20Atomic%20Bomb'%20Never%20Won%20a,discovery%2C%20newly%20translated%20letters%20show.

https://www.medanta.org/patient-education-blog/what-is-the-memory-capacity-of-a-human-brain#:~:text=A%20single%20byte%20comprises%208,2.5%20petabytes%20of%20memory%20capacity.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1328107/global-population-gender/#:~:text=Over%20the%20past%2022%20years,2022%20were%20below%2015%20years.

https://www3.wipo.int/wipogreen/en/womeningreen/index.html

https://www3.wipo.int/wipogreen/en/news/2023/news_0007.html#:~:text=Professor%20Merlina%20A.,eco%2Dfriendly%20alternatives%20to%20plastic.

https://womeninstem.org/

https://blog.hexagon.com/celebrating-women-science-technology-engineering-math-stem/#:~:text=Gender%20diversity%20in%20STEM%20is,promoting%20social%20and%20economic%20progress.

https://thesciencebehindit.org/why-is-it-important-to-encourage-more-women-to-pursue-science-and-engineering/#:~:text=Beyond%20important%20moral%2C%20ethical%2C%20and,could%20impact%20productivity%20and%20innovation.

About the Author

My name is Sharvaree Sachin Gupte. I am a Maharashrian NRI studying in Dubai, UAE at Dubai Scholars Private School in Year 11. I study in a private British school and therefore the the IGCSE syllabus. I am 16 years of age, born in 2007. I have always had a passion for writing and English literature as well as advocating for social causes. This essay exemplifies my passion for the promotion of women to follow their dreams in fields of their choice without the burden of society.