After being named 2018 Australian of the Year, quantum physicist Michelle Yvonne Simmons gave an inspiring speech about being a woman in a male-dominated industry. “Throughout my career, I found people often underestimate female scientists,” she said.
As an advocate for young girls who want to pursue a career in science and technology, she encouraged everyone to “not be defined by other people’s expectations of who you are and what you might be”.
Research shows that gender stereotypes start at a young age. From as early as four, kids start to identify certain jobs as belonging to either a girl or a boy. As a result, girls disengage from ‘male’ subjects at school like maths and science, making them unlikely to pursue careers in the male-dominated science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields.
Top Comments
Sounds great! There was recently a really good documentary on this issue on the ABC, which focussed on a class of kids in the UK. It was really disturbing to see how gender stereotypes had impacted kids that were only 7 or 8, with girls consistently thinking they would perform more poorly than boys and boys unable to express emotions.