“I didn’t know girls could do that”

It’s hard to imagine in the 21st century that there are young women in the United States who don’t know that girls can become scientists. That was my belief, anyway. I was fortunate enough to be exposed to women who taught science classes, women who had professions in the medical field, and women who were experts in their field guiding me through my undergraduate research experiences. There was no doubt to me that a woman could become a scientist. Challenging? Sure. Unique? Sometimes. But I never considered that there were young girls in the world who had no idea that women could become scientists. 

It was 2011, and I had just returned from a research experience in South Africa studying great white sharks for the summer. My friend invited me to share my research with his high school students and I jumped at the chance to show off my pictures and share my stories. After class, one of the girls asked if it was really me in the picture on the screen. When I told her that it was me, she responded, “I didn’t know girls could do that.”

Needless to say, I made the decision to apply for my teaching credential immediately after finishing my undergraduate degree and I haven’t looked back since. Education is the key to unlocking access to science for many students from historically underrepresented backgrounds and I could not be more thrilled to play a role in their journey down the STEM pipeline.

Being a woman in STEM is hard. Everyday there are people who tell you that you can’t do something. I had a college professor who told me that I wouldn’t be able to find research experiences on charismatic megafauna (otherwise known as “big animals that people care about”) until I was finished with my PhD, since he had only just barely had his first field experience studying great white sharks after many years researching in the field. You can imagine my delight when I was able to write a note to him on my final exam explaining how I was selected for a research experience with great white sharks for a whole summer in South Africa. He gave me an A- in the class. 

But just because someone tells you that you can’t, doesn’t mean you should listen. So how do we get young girls to recognize that women can really become scientists? We need to show them examples of women doing science. We need to introduce them to female scientists and allow opportunities for girls to do real science themselves. There is no expectation that our students will all want to become scientists one day, but at least they should know that they have the opportunity if they ever want to pursue that career.