From the days of Marie Curie women have been fighting for equality and respect in science with mixed results. In the 1960s only 25% of women entered medical school. Now women make up 55% of UK medical students. While this is great, more needs to be done in attracting women to all scientific fields.  

The recent victory by female child genius contestant, Nishi, helped to inspire young girls who could be interested in entering one of the STEM fields. In her speech, she challenged the stereotype that girls are weak in maths and physics. Nishi showed how even now girls are affected by this stereotype and that there isn’t enough being done for girls like her who want to study STEM subjects.  

A recent visit to the Science Live show gave myself and my classmates an interactive and entertaining glimpse into the field of science. Inspirational speakers such as Dr Aderin-Pocock and Prof Alice Roberts shared a passion and enthusiasm for their respective scientific fields that gave us plenty of food for thought. 

From a young age I have aspired to become a doctor. While living in the West, this is an admirable and achievable aim for any young female. Around the world though this is not always within reach of young women such as me. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated each year on 11 February, was initiated by UNESCO to promote equal access to science by women and girls. However, the fact that such an initiative is still in existence and that only 30% of researchers around the world are women illustrates the fact that equality in science has not yet been reached. 

I hope that young women can one day push the boundaries and prove that they can achieve anything they want, no matter how ‘manly’ it may seem. While women continue to prove more than a match for men in everything from football to the Arts it seems that more work must be done to convince women and girls themselves to find the confidence they need to become physicists, engineers, mathematicians and anything else they choose.