Women In Engineering

Six women headed to space yesterday in what Blue Origin is calling a historic all-female crew. But as a woman who's navigated male-dominated spaces throughout my career, I'm deeply conflicted about what this moment represents. The symbolism of the world's first "glam" space crew: The crew includes Lauren Sánchez (Bezos's fiancée), Katy Perry, Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, producer Kerianne Flynn, and former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe. It's a diverse group of accomplished women, which in itself feels significant. Yet I can't stop thinking about Katy Perry's words: "Space is going to finally be glam. Let me tell you something. If I could take glam up with me, I would do that. We are going to put the 'ass' in astronaut." This framing raises complex questions about representation: 1. The mixed message problem: When Elle magazine proudly notes this will be "the first time anyone has been to space with their hair and makeup done," are we celebrating women's access to space or reducing their presence there to appearance? 2. The "exceptional woman" paradox: While highlighting accomplished women is important, does the celebrity focus perpetuate the idea that women need to be exceptional to earn their place in traditionally male domains? 3. The coded language concern: Would we ever describe an all-male crew as "putting the 'ass' in astronaut"? Does this language reinforce the idea that women's achievements must be packaged with femininity to be palatable? What genuine progress might look like: True representation isn't just about having women present—it's about changing the fundamental structures that have limited women's access. The first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, flew solo in 1963. Six decades later, should we be celebrating that women can now access space with their "hair and makeup done," or should we be asking why women remain severely underrepresented in aerospace engineering, astrophysics, and astronautics? The questions I'm wrestling with: → Is this reinforcing stereotypes while appearing to break them? The focus on glamour and appearance sends mixed messages about what female achievement looks like and what we should celebrate. → Does representation matter even when packaged in problematic framing? Perhaps getting more girls and women interested in space through any means is progress—even if the messaging is imperfect. → When women enter male-dominated spaces, must they choose between being "one of the boys" or leaning into hyper-feminine presentation? Is there room for authentic self-expression? → Is this moment a genuine step forward for women in space, or primarily a calculated distraction in the billionaire space race that co-opts feminist language for commercial gain? What do you think? Share your perspective below 👇 Photo: Blue Origin ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to share with your network.  ⚡ Want more content like this? Hit follow Maya Moufarek.

Ready for some groundbreaking discoveries? This isn’t just science. It’s seismic. Some discoveries crack open the Earth. These exposed the forces inside it. Volcanoes, tectonic shifts, buried impact craters— They traced how our planet changes, and why. Their tools? Isotopes, satellites, and stubborn questions. This isn’t surface science. It goes deep. Meet 12 women who moved mountains—with data. 📌 Ida Noddack She asked: what if atoms can break apart? That idea explains Earth’s internal heat. And how we trace its age through decay. 📌 Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier She ran the lab that named Earth’s elements. Pioneered early mineral analysis and methods. Her work made chemistry map the planet. 📌 Julia Lermontova She decoded how minerals form and break down. Studied oil chemistry when few understood it. Her data powered early resource science. 📌 Alice Eastwood Saved geological collections in a quake’s ruins. Catalogued plant and rock records of the West. Worked in the field when women weren’t allowed in. 📌 Ellen Gleditsch Used radioactive decay to date the Earth. Helped prove our planet is billions of years old. Built Norway’s first radiochemistry lab. 📌 Adriana Ocampo Found the crater that ended the dinosaurs. Buried deep—until her maps revealed it. Led NASA research linking space and Earth. 📌 Aradhna Tripati Traces past climates using ancient isotopes. Her work sharpens our models of climate change. She builds labs—and access—for future scientists. 📌 Mariya Zuber Mapped the Moon’s gravity in fine detail. Her methods help us read Earth’s crust. She leads science from orbit to institution. 📌 Katharina Lodders Models how planets and meteorites are built. Her research decodes Earth’s elemental origins. It’s used from labs to launchpads. 📌 Darlene Lim Leads Earth-based missions to prepare for Mars. Studies extreme ecosystems to guide exploration. Brings field science to the future of space. 📌 Sian Proctor Geoscientist who trained in planetary volcanoes. Then flew to space—piloting a private mission. Her work spans lava flows to lift-off. 📌 Beatrix Potter Studied fossils and minerals before she wrote. Her illustrations taught geology before she was heard. Now her science is shelved in museums. They mapped the Earth—and modeled other planets too. Their data shaped how we build, adapt, and explore. 120 stories shared. 504 to come. If we terraform one day—will we credit the groundbreakers?

I’ve been reflecting on the powerful stories of women breaking barriers in Africa’s military leadership. Let’s honour just a few standout leaders who have achieved remarkable ranks and paved the way for future generations: 1. Dr. Fatou Fall (Senegal) A medical doctor who was appointed Senegal’s first female army general. A trailblazer whose dual expertise in medicine and military leadership sets a historic benchmark. 2. Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed (Kenya) Promoted to Major General in 2018, the first female major general in Kenya. In 2024, she reached another milestone as the first woman to command Kenya’s Air Force. 🇰🇪 3. Constance Ama Emefa Edjeani-Afenu (Ghana) Ghana’s first female Brigadier General, promoted in 2017, and posthumously elevated to Major General. She also served in United Nations peacekeeping and held diplomatic roles. 🇬🇭 4. Lieutenant General Proscovia Nalweyiso (Uganda) The most decorated female officer in Uganda, later promoted to Lieutenant General and serving as a senior defence advisor to the President. A formidable figure in Uganda’s armed forces. 🇺🇬 5. General Fatima Zohra Ardjoune (Algeria) The first woman in the Arab world to attain the rank of general in the Algerian Army. A trained medical doctor and researcher in hematology, she led the army’s central hospital. 🇩🇿 These women are reshaping Africa’s military narratives, from health to leadership, diplomacy to defence. They challenge stereotypes, elevate institutions, and create visible pathways for young women across the continent. It’s inspiring to see women who lead with courage, resilience, and vision. 🔥 #WomenInTheMilitary #Leadership #Trailblazers #Inspiration #Africa

Happy International Women’s Day 💜 A gender gap persists in STEM globally. We’ve made progress, but women are still woefully under-represented. Tackling our greatest challenges - improving health to combating climate change to developing AI as a force for good - must harness all talent. Gender diversity expands and extends the talent pool and is essential as today’s technologies demand different ‘Power’ skills: ▪️Emotional Intelligence: to manage emotions and navigate interpersonal relationships effectively, enhancing teamwork and leadership in STEM ▪️ Collaboration: fostering effective teamwork, with a focus on joint problem-solving ▪️ Adaptability: STEM is moving fast, I see that every day, being able to quickly learn and adjust to is indispensable ▪️ Empathy: drives solutions that truly resonate with human needs ▪️ Creativity: Brings unique perspectives that fuel innovation ▪️ Ethics: development is responsible and beneficial for society However ▫️Women are given smaller research grants and, while 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of STEM academics are women ▫️In cutting edge fields such as AI, only 1 in five (22%) is a woman ▫️Despite a shortage of skills driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, women still account for only 28% of engineering and 40% of computer science graduates ▫️Female researchers have shorter, less well-paid careers. Their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals and they are more often passed over for promotion ▫️Although STEM fields are widely regarded as critical to economies, so far most countries have not achieved gender equality in STEM So what? Not only is this unethical, unfair it’s also misinformed, I mean stupid: ▪️The crash test dummy is a classic case. Initially, modelled on the average male body. Women were 47% more likely to be seriously injured and 17% to die in car crashes. Despite efforts, the gap in safety due to a lack of diverse testing persists ▪️Cardiovascular research has long been skewed towards men. Women are 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed with heart attacks and treatment is less effective ▪️Trials for medications did not sufficiently account for gender in pharmacokinetics so dosages were based on male biology, women experience adverse drug reactions nearly 1.7 times more often ▪️Medical devices have focused on male anatomy, for example, women are 20% more likely to have a stroke or die within 30 days of being treated with stents for artery disease ▪️Voice recognition technologies were developed using data from men leading to error rates for women’s voices up to 70% higher ▪️Famously Amazon discovered that its AI-based screening was biased against women favoring male candidates by a significant margin ▪️Facial recognition has error rates of up to 34.7% for dark-skinned women, vs 0.8% for light-skinned men So, should you need it, today is a reminder that women play a critical role in STEMs and that our participation must be strengthened #iwd2024 #BeEqual #GenderEquality #DEI

🌟 Who are the Hidden Figures of India? 🇮🇳 As I am currently in India, on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, I celebrate the 100 or so women scientists who contributed to the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing mission last August 👏🏽👏🏽. They are sometimes referred to as the hidden figures of India. 🌟 A couple noteworthy names are Deputy Project Director Kalpana Kalahasti, Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, a senior scientist and aerospace engineer, often called the "Rocket Woman" of India, Tanisha Bhatia, Project Manager of the Sensor Team and Reema Ghosh is a robotics specialist. ☑️ Did you know that 43% of (STEM) graduates in India may be women, which is the highest in the world (Education Times)? I personally saw a majority of women scientists in the audience at many of the institutions we visited. There are many Governmental initiatives to increase and maintain the share of women in STEM. 👎🏽 Did you also know that as of 2023, women account for 27% of India’s STEM jobs (Times of India) Or that only 22% of Indian female faculty work full time? There is still a lot to be done Globally to have more Women and Girls choose and remain in Science, especially in Engineering and AI, and also at the top leadership/faculty levels and in policy and decision-making spaces. More must be done to eliminate the systemic and cultural barriers that retard women’s progress. ➡️ According to the UN, “This year's theme, - Closing the Gender Gap in Science: Accelerating Action - underscores the urgent need to address the barriers that hinder women and girls from pursuing and thriving in STEM careers. ➡️ Women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of national science academies are women. ➡️ In cutting edge fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman. ➡️ Female researchers tend to have shorter, less well-paid careers. Their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals and they are often passed over for promotion. (Source: UN website) 📷 Photo from Hindustan Times #womeninstem #womeninscience #genderequality

On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, I’m celebrating the women whose knowledge, courage, and leadership are reshaping the future of conservation. Among them are Risslin 'Milah' Kamarollah and Suzana binti Ali, two Indigenous Jahai women working deep in one of the world’s oldest rainforests in Malaysia. They are the first women in their community to become full‑time rangers, protecting the critically endangered Malayan tiger and the ancestral forests their families have called home for generations. Supported through WWF-Malaysia's Project Stampede, Milah and Suzana have mastered complex field science including identifying poaching threats, navigating dense terrain, setting remote camera traps, all while opening doors to new opportunities for women in their community. Their story is a powerful reminder that science does not exist only in labs and universities. It lives in the deep, place‑based knowledge held by Indigenous Peoples and local communities who read the forest, understand its rhythms, and protect its future. Women like Milah and Suzana show what becomes possible when women and girls are supported to pursue science in all its forms. I find my inspiration in stories like theirs, and in the many incredible women around the world helping to move us toward a healthier, more hopeful future. https://lnkd.in/eCpWAtnn

🔴 If women are not designing AI systems, those systems will not be fair ! This is not ideology. It is architecture ! At UNESCO’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the interventions of Élisabeth Moreno (with standing ovation), Femmes@Numérique,  Moojan Asghari (Women in AI)and Ayumi Moore Aoki (WOMEN IN TECH ® Global ) were particularly insightful and strategically inspiring. They moved the conversation beyond representation toward structural transformation. The reality became impossible to ignore: AI systems scale the structures of the teams who build them. Algorithms do not create bias. They industrialize it. When AI is developed by homogeneous teams, trained on historically skewed datasets, and governed without diversity, three structural risks emerge: • Bias becomes embedded at model level • Regulatory exposure increases (especially under the EU AI Act) • Trust erosion impacts adoption and performance KPIs This is not a “diversity” conversation. It is a governance and implementation strategy issue. From a systems perspective: AI fairness cannot be patched post-deployment. It must be engineered at design phase. And design is driven by people. If women are absent from: • Data science teams • Engineering leadership • Model validation processes • AI governance boards then the system reflects a partial worldview and scales it globally. The consequence? Biased hiring systems. Discriminatory credit scoring. Healthcare models trained on male-dominant data. Security tools misclassifying minorities. This is not theoretical. This is already operational reality. If we want ✅ scalable, ✅ compliant and ✅ high-performance AI systems, inclusion is not optional. It is a strategic driver. And if we want more women engineers tomorrow, we must show visible women succeeding in science and AI today. You cannot build inclusive systems without inclusive builders. AI ethics is not a communication layer. It is a structural design decision. ❌ The real question is not “Should we include women in AI?” ✅ The real question is: Can your AI strategy afford not to? #EveryVoiceInScience #AI #

Because women were barred from becoming doctors, in 1789, Margaret Ann Bulkley made an extraordinary decision that would change medical history. She assumed the identity of James Barry to attend medical school at Edinburgh University - a path forbidden to women at the time. For over 50 years, Dr. Barry served as a respected British Army surgeon, eventually rising to Inspector General of Hospitals. In 1826, she performed the first successful cesarean section in Africa where both mother and child survived - a remarkable achievement in an era before antiseptics. Throughout her career, Barry implemented sweeping reforms in military hospitals across the British Empire, mandating improved sanitation, better nutrition, and recreational facilities for soldiers. Her dedication to patient care was unmatched, though her sharp temperament earned both admiration and criticism from peers. The truth of Barry's identity remained hidden until her death in 1865, when a charwoman preparing the body for burial discovered her biological sex. The military sealed all records of the revelation for nearly a century. Today, Dr. James Barry is remembered as a pioneering surgeon whose determination to practice medicine led to innovations that saved countless lives. Sources: British Military Records, Edinburgh University Archives, The Lancet Historical Archives #DEI #equity #womensrights #inclusionmatters