The myth is we aren’t as good at it. The fact is we are rarely encouraged to pursue it. Girls are systemically tracked away from science from as young as preschool.
 
It is a shocking fact. It is no wonder that women and girls are grossly underrepresented in science fields. Statistically it is said girls are graded more harshly than boys in math and other science subjects. As a result, they excel less and are often more absent from the resultant professional realms. In the tech field it is said that there is often a hostile environment towards women, only perpetuating the problem. Girls and women often struggle to find role models in their scientific field of interest, jeopardizing their potential.
 
This Love Our Girls we do some myth busting around girls and science. The concept that women are less capable in this field is pure fiction. We meet women and girls from around the world who have excelled in various fields like the real life “Guardian of the Galaxy,” Dr. Moogega (Moo-ji-gae) “Moo” Cooper, the amazing young woman who is the planetary protection lead of famed NASA 2020 Mars mission armed with a degree in physics and a PhD in mechanical engineering at 24 years old with a dissertation on sterilizing spacecraft materials. She is a “Girl We Love” this month. Get to know her myth busting story and the incredible work she does at NASA to bring us one step closer to the possibilities beyond planet Earth.
 
We feature The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World. The first organization of its kind, it unites women scientists from across the world, developed and developing countries alike, seeking to create connections and promote their role in development in their various countries and having a seat at the table in scientific and technological leadership. Women in science are offered opportunities, connecting to fellow scientists across the globe as well as aided in ways to further their work at various stages of their careers. Meet some of the amazing women who are a part of this organization. Enabling them to have the support necessary to excel in these very male dominated fields.
 
We provide some myth busting information on why the gender gap exists and what must be done to eradicate it once and for all. Featuring more women scientists who have fought through the pandemic, from creating vaccines to being on the frontlines in healthcare. And finally we feature an organization focused on ending the early fast tracking of young girls away from the sciences. Honing in on those early years in high school, that are so crucial for how a girl’s potential is nurtured.
 
This month we celebrate women and girls who are destroying the myth. And shattering ceilings in a field traditionally dominated by men. Let’s take note. They will bring about a brighter tomorrow, full of new frontiers and realities. To infinity and beyond.

A real life “Guardian of the Galaxy,” Dr. Moogega (Moo-ji-gae) “Moo” Cooper holds the awesome responsibility of keeping the red planet safe from any of the Earth’s contaminants. Moo is the planetary protection lead of the famed NASA 2020 Mars mission—with its highly viewed landing on February 18, 2021. 

Her work with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is integral to the ongoing mission to discern whether Mars could be habitable for humans and that we don’t harm what’s already there—a job she has been working up to for most of her life. 

After graduating from high school at 16, Cooper studied physics as an undergraduate, received a master's degree and went on to earn her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at 24 years old with a dissertation on sterilizing spacecraft materials.

Moo is passionate about empowering organizations and others to achieve their dreams and overcome obstacles that she articulately conveys through her life story and love of her work.  A role model for women in science and technology, she is also passionate about introducing more people to the wonders of the STEAM world, including by talking about her work to boys and girls from underrepresented communities and appearing on shows like Because Space and Bill Nye Saves the World.

Moo is a recipient of several awards, including the NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal, the Charles Elachi Award for Exceptional Early Career Achievement, and JPL Voyager Awards for Technical Leadership.

For many people here on Earth, watching NASA’s rover Perseverance safely land on Mars in February was an inspiring experience. But when your job title is group supervisor for the Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), it means a little more.

“Seeing it launch was just incredible. And then seeing it land was, of course, extremely exciting. To land that hole in one is just so mathematically rigorous,” 35-year-old New Jersey native Moogega Cooper says about “Percy,” as she calls it. “I think the launch meant even that much more to me, just because of everything that we put into getting it to the finish line.”

It was indeed a rigorous process as she and members of the team she leads picked up their lives — she currently lives in Altadena, California — and moved to Florida to be near Cape Canaveral in preparation for the launch of the Mars 2020 mission, all during a pandemic. Her team’s job was to test the spacecraft, its parts and the mini-helicopter Ingenuity — a craft that would go on to execute the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another planet — for microbes that might possibly be carried to Mars, determine where those germs originated from and kill them if necessary. 

“Myself and another person on my team were the last people to take a sample of the fairing door days before launch,” she says.

The goal of the mission is to collect rock and soil samples for eventual return to Earth and look for signs of former microbial life on Mars. The trick here is to make sure any life found wasn’t brought there by us — because some microbes are resilient enough to withstand space travel, Cooper says (this process will be performed in reverse when the samples come back sometime in the 2030s).

Cooper is the right person for this very important job because she has a unique perspective on how to eliminate microbes using plasma that can be applied to delicate surfaces like on a spacecraft. In school she wasn’t interested in math at first, but watching all of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos episodes on VHS changed that and led her toward getting a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering with a concentration in thermal fluid sciences.

“I didn’t understand why I should care about solving equations to find what X is,” she says. “And then Cosmos completely changed my world and I started taking it seriously.” 

As for whether we’ll find life on Mars, Cooper says it is very possible. “I really hope that we do find something. And the thing is we set ourselves up for success,” she says. “If you go to your nearest lake, take a scoop from the bottom of that lake and put it under a microscope, you will see a high quantity and high diversity of life. So, if you want to find life on some other planet, you find the nearest lakebed and delta, which is exactly where we landed.”

The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) is an international organization founded in 1987 and based at the offices of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), in Trieste, Italy. It is a programme unit of UNESCO. 

OWSD is the first international forum to unite eminent women scientists from the developing and developed worlds with the objective of strengthening their role in the development process and promoting their representation in scientific and technological leadership.

OWSD provides research training, career development and networking opportunities for women scientists throughout the developing world at different stages in their careers.

Our main programmes are:

• Membership in the international OWSD network and in National Chapters in many countries, to unite women scientists in developing countries and provide information on opportunities, regional and local events and access to skills-building activities; 
• Fellowships, including scholarships for women scientists from least developed countries to study for Postgraduate (PhD) degrees  in another developing country, and grants for early career women scientists to support the purchase of equipment and other expenses needed to carry out their research; and
• Awards to recognise and celebrate early career women scientists who have made significant contributions to research and education in their scientific field.

OWSD provides support to women scientists throughout their careers. As you progress from undergraduate science through to PhD research, to postdoctoral studies and beyond, you can draw on OWSD members' experience and expertise to help you through to the next stage of your career. You can attend regional and international conferences and seminars in your research field, develop writing and presentation skills, sign up to get help from a mentor, learn what it takes to become a leader or negotiate better conditions in your department. One day you might be in a position to persuade government ministers, policymakers and heads of department that the knowledge and needs of women should be considered in the design of research projects and that women should be trained in how to use new technologies and products that could transform their working and family lives.

Success Stories

Girls and women are systematically tracked away from science and math throughout their educations, limiting their training and options to go into these fields as adults.

Women make up only 28% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and men vastly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields in college. The gender gaps are particularly high in some of the fastest-growing and highest-paid jobs of the future, like computer science and engineering.

Tracking Girls and Women Out of Higher-Paying STEM Areas

Giving women equal opportunities to pursue — and thrive in — STEM careers helps narrow the gender pay gap, enhances women’s economic security and ensures a diverse and talented STEM workforce and prevents biases in these fields and the products and services they produce.

A typical STEM worker earns two-thirds more than those employed in other fields, according to Pew Research Center. And some of the highest-earning STEM occupations, such as computer science and engineering, have the lowest percentages of women workers.

Key factors perpetuating gender STEM gaps:

• Gender Stereotypes: STEM fields are often viewed as masculine, and teachers and parents often underestimate girls’ math abilities start as early as preschool.
   
• Male-Dominated Cultures: Because fewer women study and work in STEM, these fields tend to perpetuate inflexible, exclusionary, male-dominated cultures that are not supportive of or attractive to women and minorities.
   
• Fewer Role Models: girls have fewer role models to inspire their interest in these fields, seeing limited examples of female scientists and engineers in books, media and popular culture. There are even fewer role models of Black women in math and science.
   
• Math Anxiety: Teachers, who are predominantly women, often have math anxiety they pass onto girls, and they often grade girls harder for the same work, and assume girls need to work harder to achieve the same level as boys.

By now, every corner of the world has felt the devastating impact of the pandemic, and women and girls in science are on the front lines of response. They are healthcare workers and innovators. They are researching vaccines and pioneering treatments. They are leading us toward a safer world, and inspiring the next generation of girls to be forces of good in science and tech.

“Treating patients with COVID-19 is very hard, each one with their own unique needs,” says Dr. Entela Kolovani a physician at the hospital of infectious diseases in Tirana, Albania who started treating patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at the very beginning of the pandemic. “We are dealing not only with the virus, but also with the psychological impact it has on patients. They are totally isolated from their families and we need to stay the closest possible to them.”

In Mexico, 79 per cent of nurses are women, like Brenda Abad. She was assigned to detect those with COVID-19 on her first day working at a public hospital.

“At the beginning I was very scared of catching the disease and being contagious, but in the end, you have to do your job and you’re trained for it,” she says.

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is one of the leading scientists behind the US Government’s vaccine research. Corbett is part of a team within the National Institutes of health that worked to develop one of the vaccines which is more than 90 per cent effective.

Recognizing Dr. Corbett’s contributions and leadership in vaccine research during the pandemic is especially important both because COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted black communities within the US, and because often black women in science have been left out of history books.

Dr. Corbett hopes that her critical work will help inspire future generations of girls of colour in science, who can see themselves in her success.

Co-founder of the biotechnology company BioNTech, Özlem Türeci is not just a scientist but also a physician, an entrepreneur and a leader in the global health sector. In 2020, her company developed the first approved RNA-based vaccine against COVID-19, which came as a much-needed moment of hope in a year of unprecedented crisis.

More than 1,300 people from over 60 countries currently work at BioNTech, and more than half of them are women. Türeci says researchers should focus on the things they want to change and the problems the want to solve, thinking broader and dreaming big.

In Thailand, Ramida Juengpaisal, 24, worked to create a national COVID-19 tracker that pulls together all available information about the virus and helps to stop the spread of misinformation as COVID-19 first began to spread. The "COVID Tracker by 5Lab", that Jennie worked on shared information about outbreaks and cleaning procedures, as well as critical information about where testing is available and how much it costs.

“For too long, the STEM fields have been shaped by gender biases that exclude women and girls,” Jennie says. “There is a lot of women working in the tech industry, but they don't have platforms to show their potential. Despite this, women and girls are pushing the boundaries every day.”

The American Association of University Women announced a pilot program designed to encourage high school girls to pursue education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). With a particular focus on girls of color, AAUW STEMEd for Girls seeks to raise awareness, bolster confidence and expose students to the enormous and fulfilling career potential in these fields.

Supported by a grant from Arconic Foundation, AAUW STEMEd for Girls will pilot this summer as a series of free virtual interactive workshops that aims to debunk myths about pursuing and working in STEM fields. Girls will participate in collaborative learning and STEM-based problem solving and will develop personalized pathways to potentially pursue STEM majors and STEM careers. STEM Ambassadors, accomplished AAUW fellowships and grants alumnae and STEM experts, will facilitate discussions, offer guidance and mentorship and encourage parents and caregivers to support their daughters’ education and career journeys.

“There are still so few women of color in many STEM fields, both at the college level and in the professional world,” said Leshell Hatley, Ph.D., AAUW’s Director of STEM Programs. “We believe that by reaching out to girls in high school and showing them how exciting, interesting and lucrative these fields can be, they may be inspired to major in STEM in college and ultimately to join the STEM workforce.”

“Industry needs the talents and skills these young women can bring,” said Ryan Kish, Arconic Foundation Vice President and Treasurer. “Many of tomorrow’s careers will be in STEM fields and we need programs that prepare today’s students for those opportunities. To maximize its potential and continue to grow, the future manufacturing workforce needs to be more diverse and inclusive, and we believe that programs like AAUW STEMEd for Girls are key to getting us there.”

AAUW STEMEd for Girls is the latest in a long line of AAUW initiatives aimed at advancing women and girls in science, technology, engineering and math. Since its founding 140 years ago, AAUW has worked to open doors to education, careers and leadership roles, most notably in the STEM fields. It has done groundbreaking research on systemic barriers to women in STEM and has provided support to STEM researchers, scholars and community organizations through its world-renowned Fellowship and Grants program.

“When we look at fields where women, especially women of color, still encounter barriers, the STEM careers are at the top of the list,” Dr. Hatley said. “Our goal with this program is to break down those barriers and open more doors to more women—to the benefit of all of us.”

Stand With Breonna

Saturday. March 13th, 2021 marked one year since police killed Breonna Taylor during a botched raid. Her family and millions of others continue their demand for justice. 

Breonna was asleep at home when a rogue task-force of the Louisville police broke down her door in the middle of the night and murdered her. They were attempting an illegal drug raid in the wrong neighborhood for a suspect that they'd already arrested earlier that day.

The police officers have yet to be arrested or charged. Breonna's family saw no progress in their fight for justice, so they reached out to our team at the Action PAC. We need all hands on deck!!!

Add your name: We’re calling on the Louisville Metro Police Department to terminate the police involved, and for a special prosecutor to be appointed to bring forward charges against the officers and oversee all parts of this case. We’re demanding that the Louisville Metro Council pass new rules banning the use of no-knock raids like the one used to break into Breonna’s home.

Since the launch of this petition, Commonwealth Attorney Tom Wine has recused himself from the investigation into the LMPD conduct that night, the FBI is now investigating the killing of Breonna Taylor, the LMPD Police Chief, Steve Conrad, announced his retirement, and all charges have been dropped against Breonna’s boyfriend, Kenny Walker, but our work is not done.