Female researchers from the women’s hospital have shared their experiences in a “Meet a Scientist” event for girls, aimed at dismantling stereotypes that lead students away from careers in science.
The seminar coincided with International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11 and saw hundreds of students in attendance.
Panelist Prisha Balgovind, a microbiologist and research assistant said she questions the lack of representation.
“Sometimes we face it like it’s a disadvantage being a woman, but there are great things you can offer,” Ms Balgovind said.
“You have so much of an advantage just with the different ideas that you have.”
Ms Balgovind said she thought it might be easier for attendees to hear from someone early on in their career.
“A lot of the panelists have a lot of experience, I thought maybe it would be easier for high school girls to see themselves early on in their career.”
Women account for less than a quarter of people studying science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) at a higher education level.
16-year-old attendee Zehra Altindal said although more girls are working towards careers in STEM, there’s still a gap.
“There needs to be more girls signing up and saying I just want to have a go – we can all do so much we just have to take that first initial step,” Ms Altindal said.
“It only comes down to one chromosome, so if we’re letting this one small difference affect so many other big changes we can make, the work we do isn’t accounted for anything.
