Bridging the Gap: Women grad students talk rise of STEM, power of diversity in science

Women pursuing graduate degrees in science today are part of a tide of change. The generations of female scientists before this one often faced obstacles or backlash for their career choice. On the other end, young girls are increasingly encouraged to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.

As the bridge between these two generations, today’s female graduate students have more opportunities, more women scientists they can emulate, and more evidence their future in science is strong. In 2013, women accounted for less than one-third of science and engineering jobs, despite accounting for half of the college-educated workforce, according to the National Science Board. The same statistics show a 121 percent increase of women in those jobs since 1993, compared to a 60 percent increase for men, slowing shrinking the gender gap. 

In this podcast, women graduate students from IMET talk about their experiences pursuing a degree in science at a time when more women are joining them in the field. Our conversation includes the rise of STEM learning in early education and the power of diversity of all kinds in science.

Get to know the students featured in this podcast:

• Kaila Noland is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Rosemary Jagus’ lab who is studying the mRNA recruitment and interacting protein partners of translational components belonging to the eIF4E family in the dinoflagellate species Amphidinium carterae.
• Shadaesha Green is a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Sook Chung to understand the hormones that control reproductive cycle of the deep-sea red crab to help inform federal managers that use that information for regulations such as catch size.
• Amanda Lawrence is a master’s student in Dr. Sook Chung’s lab who is looking to identify a biomarker for the onset of sexual maturity in male crustaceans. She is using the blue crab as a model organism because so much is known about the life history to learn about life histories of other understudied crustacean species, such as the Jonah crab.
• Ana Sosa is pursuing a Ph.D. with Dr. Feng Chen and is  studying defense mechanisms cyanobacteria use to survive and adapt a wide range of conditions, including temperature, light, and toxicity.
• Daniela Tizabi is a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Russell Hill and is focused on marine natural products and drug discovery. She is studying the microbial community associated with a giant barrel sponge from the Caribbean, and is interested in a group of bacteria known as actinomycetes, that are known to produce many potent compounds with therapeutic potential, such as anti-cancer, antibacterial, and anti-fungal.

Read the full transcript: English