WC Desk:
“What do you see when you picture a scientist? Is it a white man in a lab coat? This portrait will smash that stereotype to bits,” writes Karen Eng in her TEDFellows article on “Meet 12 Badass Scientists… Who Also Happen to be Women.”
“Everywhere you look, odds appear stacked against women in STEM,” she observes. “Young male scientists receive up to twice as much funding as their female counterparts in Boston’s biomedical research institutions, a global research hub. Only 30% of the world’s researchers are women, and women hold fewer than 25% of STEM jobs in the US.” Eng also notes that “one recent survey found 67% of Europeans and 93% of Chinese respondents don’t even believe women have the skills to do science.”
“But take a look at the above portrait, which was taken by photographer Bret Hartman at the TED Fellows Retreat in Pacific Grove, California,” she continues. “These 12 scientists represent a range of disciplines — from astrophysics, biology, genetics, archaeology, medicine, glaciology, data science and more — and represent 5 countries around the world. They also happen to all be women. And while a portrait like this one shouldn’t be extraordinary… it sadly is — highlighting a very real, very large gender gap in the sciences.” To read more about each scientist featured, visit http://bit.ly/1OomOVk
Reproduced from A Mighty Girl-Facebook Page.