Women’s History Month inspires both celebration and reflection on the role of women scientists/engineers across the STEM fields: women have contributed to scientific endeavors throughout history despite disparagement, marginalization, discrediting, and invisibility. This week, we call attention to some tributes to STEM women. For example, the recently published 600+-page Palgrave Handbook of Women and Science . . .
Science Technology Engineering and Math
People with disabilities are drastically underrepresented in science, both as researchers and study participants. For example, over 25% of Americans are disabled but only 3% of the STEMM workforce reports having a disability. This needs to change, says Bonnielin Swenor, founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center, in a Q&A published . . .
Students, especially STEMM students, prefer male professors, according to research. Two recent studies highlighted in Inside Higher Ed show that this bias increases both during a course and as the professor ages. In one study, student evaluations of men and women instructors were similar at the beginning of the course. Still, when students received their . . .
Dr. Patricia Bath: An ophthalmologist and laser scientist. She invented a new device & technique for cataract surgery known as laserphaco. She was also the first woman to chair an ophthalmology residency program in the U.S. (At Drew-UCLA). https://bit.ly/3GyE8En Dr. George Carruthers: An aeronautical and astronautical engineer who worked for the US Naval Research Lab. . . .
This is Black History month; next month is Women’s History month. We celebrate by highlighting the first black woman to earn her Ph.D. in physics in the U.S., Willie Hobbs Moore, who was also an electrical engineer and received her degree in physics from the University of Michigan in 1972. Dr. Moore is known for . . .
Lonnie G. Johnson: A mechanical and nuclear engineer, he worked for NASA and the Air Force. He worked on the Galileo mission to Jupiter as well as the early stages of the Cassini project. Perhaps most noted as the inventor of the Super Soaker, he holds over 100 patents with more pending. https://bit.ly/3usEeeh Alma Levant . . .
Many young people are introduced to professions like Chemistry in high school and textbooks play a major role in informing students about the discipline and the people who work within it. An article in Chemistry World shines a light on what happens when textbooks are biased in their representation. A study of four widely used . . .
Bessie Blount Griffin: A physical therapist in the late 1940’s who helped teach her amputee clients how to write using their mouths and feet. She also invented a portable apparatus that enabled amputees to feed themselves. https://bit.ly/3L1rcKx George Washington Carver: An accomplished botanist and inventor. He developed techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings . . .
Equal practices are often mistaken as synonymous with equitable practices. However, the path to get from point A to point B can be different for different people because the surrounding system of people (faculty, staff, students, society) does not respond to all individuals similarly. For example, those who have regularly been extended the benefit of . . .
As a way to celebrate Black History Month, ADVANCE is highlighting a different person every day who has made contributions to STEM in the past and present. This week we are featuring the following: Dr. Marie M. Daly: First Black woman to obtain a Ph.D in chemistry in the US. She discovered the relationship between . . .