Photo by Christopher Harting
By Welina Farah | MIT Open Learning
The value of diversity in the workplace, especially as it pertains to women in STEM, can have a profound impact in advancing science and research.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) published an article in February of 2017 titled, “Gender diversity leads to better science” where 10 researchers sought to add empirical data to the truism “gender diversity enhances knowledge outcomes.” What they found was that “teams may benefit from various types of diversity, including scientific discipline, work experience, gender, ethnicity, and nationality… [that] gender diversity matters for scientific discovery [by] broadening the viewpoints, questions, and areas addressed by researchers.”
For Women’s History Month, we celebrate contributions by women in the field, including those from the past, current scientists, and future innovators of science, technology, engineering, and math.
The following course offerings—from two day-long workshops to a semester of history—provide a lens into the roles women have and can play in STEM.
- WGS.S10 History of Women in Science and Engineering – This course provides a basic overview of the history of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Students will learn about the specific contributions of women across a variety of disciplines and will gain a broad perspective on how these contributions played a larger role in the advancement of human knowledge and technological achievement. The class also discusses how both historic and modern biases within the STEM disciplines, as well as in representations of women and girls in media and popular culture, can affect outcomes.
- RES.2.006 Girls Who Build Cameras: One-Day Workshop – In this workshop, high school girls have a one day hands-on introduction to camera physics and technology at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Beaverworks Center. The workshop includes tearing down old dSLR cameras, building a Raspberry Pi camera, and designing Instagram filters and Photoshop tools. Participants also get to listen to keynote speakers from the camera technology industry, including Kris Clark who engineers space cameras for NASA and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and Uyanga Tsedev who creates imaging probes to help surgeons find tumors at MIT. During lunch, representatives from the Society of Women Engineers and the Women’s Technology Program at MIT will present future opportunities to get involved in engineering in high school and college.
- RES.2.005 Girls Who Build: Make Your Own Wearables Workshop – This workshop for high school girls is an introduction to computer science and electrical/mechanical engineering through wearable technology. The workshop, developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, consists of two major hands-on projects in manufacturing and wearable electronics. These include 3D printing jewelry and laser cutting a purse, as well as programming LEDs to light up while walking. Participants learn the design process, 3D computer modeling, and machine shop tools, in addition to writing code and building a circuit.
