Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls into STEM careers and support women already working in these fields.
This week, two women – Donna Strickland and Frances H. Arnold – have won the Nobel Prize in the fields of Physics and Chemistry respectively. On Tuesday, Strickland won the third Nobel in Physics awarded to a woman after 55 years since the last female laureate in this category. The next day, Arnold received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her achievements in the directed evolution of enzymes. For young girls who aspire to a career in STEM this is a huge deal. Not only do they have visibility of women in STEM, but they also see successful scientists recognized by the prestigious Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and awarded one of science’s most important accolades.
Visibility. That’s what women in STEM need. That’s what will encourage the next generation of girls to study a career in STEM and potentially become a female Nobel Award winner. For too many years, women weren’t even allowed into or acknowledged in the fields of science. If it weren’t for those women who braved this male-dominated field, we wouldn’t have many things that we have today. It was Hedy Lamarr’s invention of a secret communications system during World War II for radio-controlling torpedoes employing ‘frequency hopping’ technology that laid the technological foundations for all wireless transmission technology, from Wi-Fi to GPS. And it was Ada Lovelace who created the first computer algorithm.
Chalon, Alfred Edward. Portrait of Ada, Countess of Lovelace. 1840. Science Museum Group Collection.
As a supporter of women in STEM, Clarivate Analytics has partnered with Ada Lovelace Day to celebrate the achievements of women and give them the visibility they deserve. We are supporting the official Ada Lovelace Day Live! event, taking place next Tuesday, October 9. This annual ‘science cabaret’ is an entertaining evening of geekery, comedy and music.
Speakers for the event are:
- Professor Sunetra Gupta, Novelist and Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford
- Dr Chanuki Seresinhe, Data science researcher at the Data Science Lab, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick and the Alan Turing Institute
- Dr Susie Maidment, Paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London
- Dr Hilary Costello, Engineer
- Prof Emma McCoy, Vice-Dean (Education) for the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Professor of Statistics in the Mathematics Department at Imperial College London
- Dr Diva Amon, Deep-sea biologist at the Natural History Museum in London
- Natasha Simons, Science presenter and content developer
- Helen Arney, Science presenter, comedian and geek songstress
Learn more about this year’s event, and book your tickets with a 15% discount here!
For more articles on Women in STEM, follow our blog series: Women at Clarivate 2018.
