Changing Science: celebrating women in STEMM
Kate Bongiovanni recaps the panel discussion on Changing Science
As part of Science Festival 2019, Changing Science, sought to acknowledge a variety of achievements by different women in STEMM and share personal and career insights. The panel was hosted by Michelle Gallaher, Co-Founder and Director at The Social Science and Co-Founder and Creative Director of Women in STEMM Australia. Panellists included:
- Dr Leonie Walsh: a chemist and leader in industrial technology development and commercialisation. She was appointed Victoria’s first Lead Scientist in 2013.
- Dr Irene Gallego Romero: who leads a research group investigating how natural selection has shaped us humans, with a focus on how genes are regulated. She is currently a lecturer in genetics at the University of Melbourne.
- Dr Nahid Chalyavi: a chemist specialising in in laser spectroscopy. She’s currently R&D project manager in the Spectroscopy Technology Innovation Centre at Agilent Technologies.
- Ayesha Ahmed: an aspiring computer scientist with a deep interest in complexity theory and quantum technology. She is active in the tech sphere and regularly takes part in competitive programming.
First, panellists shared some of the other (non-science!) activities they’re involved in, which included dancing, cycling, competitive programming and figure skating. These activities gave the audience an insight into their personal lives and demonstrated what a talented and diverse group of people they were.
Michelle asked each of the panellists for some of their unique insights on their various careers and perspectives on working and studying as women in STEMM. Each panellist was able to bring a different perspective from academic and industry-based careers and each panellist was at a different stage in their career.
Dr Nahid, a team innovator at Agilent, shared some of the challenges she faced working in a predominantly male environment. Dr Nahid is the manager of a team of 20 engineers and scientists. She is the only woman in the team and one of the youngest members. She finds that, as a woman, she brings a different perspective from her male colleagues and this helps bring respect from her co-workers, despite her youth and gender.
Bachelor of Science student, Ayesha Ahmed, highlighted how your “career” can begin earlier than many students might assume. As a recipient of a large scholarship, Ayesha talked about being confident and creating your own opportunities. In order to achieve her goals, she draws motivation from the struggles she has faced.
Dr Leonie stressed the importance of volunteering and extra-curricular activities in leading to career opportunities. For instance, sport is a fantastic realm to experience and develop role model and leadership skills, which can then be translated to the workplace. Similarly, volunteering can help build skills and confidence and can unearth job opportunities.
Other topics touched on included gender quotas and diversity in thought.
The latter half of the session saw the audience brought into a more active role with questions and comments. Audience members and panellists shared thoughts on challenges for women in the workplace, such as a reluctance for women to put themselves forward, and the necessity of promoting women in STEMM from the entry and high school level and the need to not only have once-a-year science events, but to continue the women in STEMM movement and create a community. Initiatives such as Robogals, Code Like a Girl and Women in STEMM Australia were mentioned as some of the existing mediums for promoting women and girls in STEMM.
Michelle Gallagher did a fantastic job of hosting the panel and left us with a key message highlighting the need to continue to tell our stories of excellent women in STEMM because another woman’s career depends on it.
By Kate Bongiovanni, Science Student Ambassador
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