The 12th of February 2023 marked a significant date for Stemettes – our 10th Birthday. 2023 will include many celebrations, including festivals and roundtable discussions, which you can find out more about here.
To kick off our celebrations, on the 13th of February, we gathered to host a significant event highlighting the lack of women in STEM role models in the GCSE / A-Level curriculum. In short, this event was a procession across Waterloo Bridge by the Stemettes team and supporters.
We chose Waterloo Bridge, also known as ‘The Ladies Bridge’ as our location for this event for a reason. During World War II, the bridge was built by several women who failed to be recognised for its creation. Through the work of historians, professors and investigators, the work of these women is coming to light, and we furthered this by showing that women play a vital role in STEM fields, even though society hasn’t highlighted them the way they deserve.
We have separately commissioned a survey with the BSA (British Science Association) into the current state of affairs in schools, and our top findings include:
- 1 in 3 young people say they haven’t or don’t remember being taught about a woman scientist in the past 2 years
- 70% of young people between the ages of 14-to-19 who were surveyed also said they thought it was important for schools to include information about women STEM role models in their lessons. Boys (71%) are just as likely to agree with this statement as girls (65%).
Throughout the day, we had fun, celebrated and networked whilst sharing our message. Some attendees even dressed up as their favourite women in STEM!
During our event, Head Stemette Anne-Marie signed The Roll of Honorary Fellows at Savoy Place.
In conclusion, this event was for everyone who believes there should be equal representation of the work women in STEM have done, are doing, and will continue to do. Watch how it all went down below…
Want to see what else we’re doing to celebrate? Find your nearest festival now >>
