STEM Girls

When we began researching girls and women for this exhibition, we were happily surprised at the sheer number of amazing gals who’ve been involved in STEM fields throughout history. Because there are so many of them, we’ve been unable to include them all in the exhibition itself, but through our blog and Tumblr we’ve been able to feature more STEM Girls. Below we’ve collected the girls and women featured on our blog for Women’s History Month 2015.

Star Girls: Katherine Johnson

Star Girls: Katherine Johnson

Girls and women have made huge impacts in the science of astronomy and space exploration. Today, we continue our “Star Girls” blogs with a jump forward to the mid-twentieth century and a figure that many may know from the movie Hidden Figures. Decades after Harvard...

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Star Girls: Antonia Maury

Star Girls: Antonia Maury

Girls and women have made huge impacts in the science of astronomy and space exploration. Today, we continue our "Star Girls" blogs with a look at another of the "Harvard Computers" of the late nineteenth century. Working alongside Annie Jump Cannon at the Harvard...

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Star Girls: Annie Jump Cannon

Star Girls: Annie Jump Cannon

Girls and women have made huge impacts in the science of astronomy and space exploration. This field combines mathematics, physics and chemistry to explain the origin and evolution of celestial objects and phenomena. This includes everything from planets, moons, and...

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STEM Girls: Jocelyn Bell Burnell

STEM Girls: Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a Northern Irish astrophysicist who has been credited with one of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the 20th century. She had a tough time at college, being the only woman in a class of 49 men. She said in an interview in the Belfast...

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The Women Codebreakers of Bletchley Park

The Women Codebreakers of Bletchley Park

For years, the efforts of thousands of codebreakers working in small huts in the grounds of a large mansion somewhere in Buckinghamshire was kept as one of the biggest secrets of the Second World War. The most famous figure is the great Alan Turing. Without him, the...

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STEM Girls: Peggy Whitson

STEM Girls: Peggy Whitson

This year Peggy Whitson made history in three different ways. First she became the oldest woman to fly into space. Second, she became the first woman to command the International Space Center twice. And third, she broke the record for the amount of time spent in space...

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The ENIAC Girls who revolutionised computer programming

The ENIAC Girls who revolutionised computer programming

The women codebreakers of Bletchley Park are not the only women to have been largely forgotten in our history. Towards the end of the Second World War, just across the ocean, the ENIAC programme was launched. The aim was to build a computer that could perform a set of...

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STEM Girls: South African School Girls

STEM Girls: South African School Girls

May 2017 will see South Africa will launch the first private satellite into space from Africa. The fact that a group of school girls are responsible is even more historic. Cape Peninsula University of Technology are responsible for this historic feat. They are trying...

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STEM Girls: Margaret Guo

STEM Girls: Margaret Guo

In October, Margaret Guo was named the NCAA Woman of the Year. The award was in recognition of her accomplishments not only in the swimming pool but for her academic work as well. She is the first MIT student to win this award. Margaret graduated with dual degrees in...

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STEM Girls: Stephanie Wilson

STEM Girls: Stephanie Wilson

A few weeks ago we featured the first African-American woman in space,  Mae Jemison. It is often the case that the person who is first to achieve something is the person who gets all the plaudits and the second person becomes a footnote in history. In the case of the...

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STEM Girls: Debyani Chakravarty

STEM Girls: Debyani Chakravarty

Debyani grew up in a family in which education was incredibly important. Her goal initially was to become a doctor but some wise words from her grandmother gave her pause for thought. Her grandmother said to her that "if you're going to do research, do it so that you...

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STEM Girls: Mae Jemison

STEM Girls: Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison has been making history throughout her career. She was not only the first African-American woman to be an astronaut but she was also the first African-American woman to be sent into space. Mae's interest in science began at an early age and it continued...

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STEM Girls: Dr. Beth A. Brown

STEM Girls: Dr. Beth A. Brown

Beth grew up in Virginia, and from a young age had an interest in science, especially in astronomy. She was her class valedictorian when she graduated in 1987 from high school and she went on to study astrophysics at Howard University in Washington DC. She earned her...

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STEM Girls: Hadiyah-Nicole Green

STEM Girls: Hadiyah-Nicole Green

There are less than 100 black female physicists currently working in the United States. According to data gathered from the United States National Science Foundation from 1973 to 2012, only 66 black women have earned a PhD in physics. Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green is one...

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STEM Girls: Maggie Aderin-Pocock

STEM Girls: Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a woman living her dream. As a child she saved her money to buy a telescope. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great quality telescope, but in an attempt to improve it she began attending night school to learn the skills herself. She was the youngest...

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STEM Girl Spotlight: Deborah Cornelison

STEM Girl Spotlight: Deborah Cornelison

Last month I attended the Global MindED Conference in Denver, Colorado and was able to meet many wonderful people working toward improving global education. Conference attendees included teachers, administrators, policy makers, and technology and industry...

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STEM Girl Spotlight: Perla Bustillos

STEM Girl Spotlight: Perla Bustillos

Last month I attended the Global MindED Conference in Denver, Colorado and was able to meet many wonderful people working toward improving global education. Conference attendees included teachers, administrators, policy makers, and technology and industry...

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STEM Girls: Mildred Dresselhaus

STEM Girls: Mildred Dresselhaus

Mildred Dresselhaus was born in Brooklyn on November 11, 1930. The daughter of Eastern European immigrants, the only career option that was seriously presented to her through the New York school system was that of school teacher. She did ultimately end up in...

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