Our regular Wednesday full-school virtual gathering was a special e-STEM-bly this week, in advance of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11.
Established by the United Nations in 2015, the day is intended to recognize the critical role that women and girls play in science and technology and to promote full and equal access to, and participation in, those fields for everyone.
Despite female representation in STEM being less than 30% of people involved in research and development and women making up less than 25% of individuals in natural and applied sciences, right now women scientists are at the very forefront of the fight against COVID-19.
Our student STEM Committee introduced our community to some role models including Simone Giertz, Deborah Raji, Karen Uhlenbeck, and Gitanjali Rao who have all excelled in their respective fields of engineering, technology, mathematics, and science.
However, the highlight of the assembly was a virtual address by a panel of STEM experts that included SCS alumna My-Linh Yee ’16.
“STEM is the reason behind everything,” My-Linh explained. “It doesn’t leave much room for subjectivity. It’s about constantly trying to find solutions.”
My-Linh shared that she had first developed an interest in STEM when she joined the SCS Robotics team. She went on to take applied science and math and was soon hooked on engineering.
“STEM has led to some amazing relationships,” she said. She attributed her success in the field to St. Clement’s School and teacher Ms Chapman, her robotics teammates, and her STEM classmates, all of whom provided her with support and encouragement.
“Surround yourself with good people,” she said. “Unconditional support has been so helpful.”
My-Linh is currently in her fifth and final year in the civil engineering and business combined degree program at Western University and is the Social Director for The Women in Engineering club there.
“I highly recommend participating in mathematics and programming contests,” she advised the SCS students. “They’re not only very interesting and good fun, but they also look good on résumés. They also helped me prepare for university and for job interviews.”
