You've probably heard the words "Women in STEM" in the mouths of nearly every politician and teacher in the past few years. But if you haven't, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math; four fields that have historically much lower participation from women and girls than men. With this great push towards having women enter these fields, I thought the best way to do that would be to highlight the women who are already, as stories to inspire little girls everywhere into joining a STEM field.
Engineering:
- Beatrice Shilling, Aeronautical Engineer Whose Invention Helped Win World War II
- Bertha Benz, The First Person to Drive a Car Long-Distance
- Caresse Crosby, Inventor, Publisher, and Businesswoman
- Edith Clarke, The First Female Electrical Engineer
- Emily Warren Roebling, Engineer Noted for Her Work in Completing the Brooklyn Bridge
- Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, Computer Technician and co-Creator of the First Commercial Electronic Computer
- Hedy Lamarr, Inventor Who Helped Create the Technology Used in Modern WiFi, Bluetooth, and Other Systems
- Hertha Ayrton, Inventor and One of the First Women to Work with Electricity
- Janet Guthrie, Aerospace Engineer
- Lillian Gilbreth, Psychologist and Industrial Engineer
- Marissa Mayer, Software Engineer for Google
- Mary Anderson, Windshield Wiper Inventor
- Mary Golda Ross, First Female Native American Engineer
- Mary Jackson, The First African American Female Engineer at NASA
- Noor Al-Hussein, Architect & Dowager Queen of Jordan
- Rose Michtom, Co-Inventor of the Teddy Bear
- Sophia Hayden, The First Female Graduate of MIT's Architectural Program
- Sybilla Masters, The First Person in the American Colonies to be Granted an English Patent
- Tessy Thomas, Missile Engineer
- Trisha Prabhu, Computer Coder & Inventor of ReThink Technology
Mathematics:
- Dorothy Vaughan, Hidden Figure and FORTRAN Programmer
- Emmy Noether, Mathematician
- Florence Nightingale, Statistician and Nurse Who Pioneered the Modern Nursing Field
- Hypatia of Alexandria, Mathematician and Inventor
- Maria Gaetana Agnesi, The First Woman to Publish a Widely Known Math Textbook
- Mary Fairfax Somerville, Astronomer and Mathematician
- Maryam Mirzakhani, Fields Medal Winning Mathematician
- Melba Roy Mouton, One of NASA's Hidden Figures
- Mileva Marić, Albert Einstein's First Wife and the Brains Behind Some of His Earliest Mathematical Calculations
- Sofia Kovalevskaya, Mathematician
Technology:
- Ada, Countess of Lovelace, Computer Programmer Who Lived 100 Years Before the Invention of the Computer
- Annie Easley, Computer Programmer and Hidden Figure
- Fereshteh Forough, Founder of Code to Inspire Which Teaches Afghani Girls How to Code
- Henrietta Lacks, Her Cells Would Go on to Save Millions of Lives
- Lorllys Ramos Acevedo, Former Head of the Venezuelan Aviation Accident Unit
- Margaret Hamilton, Retired NASA Computer Code Writer
- Martha Matilda Harper, Entrepreneur Who Invented Hair Care Products and Folding Salon Chairs
- Olga Erteszek, Held Several Patents For Women's Lingerie
- Sarah Parcak, Archaeologist & Egyptologist Who Uses Satellite Technology in Her Work
- Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube and One of Google's Earliest Employees
Science:
Anthropology and Human Studies:
- Elizabeth Rawdon, The First Person to Undertake a Scientific Study of a Bog Body
- Ella Cara Deloria, Linguist, Ethnographer, and Anthropologist For the Sioux Peoples
- Mary Leakey, Paleonathropologist Who Made Multiple Discoveries in Early Hominid History
- Elena Cornaro Piscopia, The First Woman to Ever Receive a Doctoral Degree, Music Composer, and Linguist
- Salima Ikram, Egyptologist and Professor of Egyptology
Archaeology and Cartography:
- Barbara Washburn, Mountaineer and Cartographer
- Bertha Parker Pallan Cody, The First Female Native American Archaeologist
- Doris Zemurray Stone, Archaeologist & Anthropologist Focusing on Honduras & other South American Countries
- Dorothy Garrod, First Woman to Hold an Oxford and Cambridge Chair; Archaeologist
- Gertrude Bell, After Mapping the Countryside She Helped Found Modern-day Iraq
- Hester Stanhope, Helped Lead the First Modern Excavation of the Holy Land
- Jane Dieulafoy, Led Excavations at Susa, an Ancient Persian City
- Kathleen Kenyon, Archaeologist Who Led the Excavation of Jericho
- La Malinche, Linguist Who Helped Bring Down the Aztecs
- Priyaleen Singh, Archaeological Conservationist
- Tatiana Proskouriakoff, Archaeologist and Sketch Artist Who Brought Images of Maya Sites to the Public
Astronomy/Aerospace:
- Aglaonice, The First Female Astronomer from Ancient Greece
- Annie Jump Cannon, Discoverer of 300 Stars, Astronomer
- Caroline Herschel, The First Woman to Discover a Comet, Astronomer
- Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Astronomer Who Discovered What Makes the Universe
- Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Astronomer who Discovered how to Measure the Universe
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Astrophysicist Who Discovered Pulsars
- Mae C Jemison, The First African American Woman to Go to Space
- Margaret Harwood, First Female Director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory
- Maria Mitchell, The First Female Astronomer in the United States
- Peggy Whitson, Former NASA Astronaut
- Sally Ride, the First American Woman to Go to Space
- Wang Zhenyi, Astronomer, Author, and Poet
- Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming, Led a Group of Female "Computers" in the Harvard Observatory
- Valentina Tereshkova, The First Woman to Ever Go to Space
- Vera Rubin, Pioneering Astronomer Who Studied Galaxy Rotation Rates
Biology and Earth Sciences:
- Carol Greider, Molecular Biologist
- Florence Bascom, The First Female Geologist to Join the US Geologic Survey
- Helen Longstreet, One of Georgia's First Environmentalists
- Janaki Ammal, Botanist and Cytogeneticist
- Jane Franklin, Arctic Expert & Horticulturalist
- Juliane (Koepcke) Diller, Zoologist and Only Survivor of LANSA Flight 508
- Katia Krafft, Volcanologist
- Marie Stopes, Paleobotanist, Eugenics Advocate, and Birth Control Pioneer
- Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Conservationist and Protector of the Florida Everglades
- Martine Bertereau, Possibly the First Female Geologist and Mineral Engineer in Recorded History
- Mary Agnes Chase, Botanist and Social Activist
- Rachel Carson, Marine Biologist and Conservationist
- Roger Arliner Young, the First African American Woman to Earn a PhD in Zoology
- Sylvia Earle, Marine Biologist
Chemistry:
- Anna J Harrison, The First Woman Elected President of the American Chemical Society and Physical Chemist
- Dorothy Hodgkin, Chemist and Crystallographer
- Elizabeth Fleischman-Aschheim, X-Ray Pioneer
- Edith M Flanigen, Chemist Who Holds Over 100 Patents
- Fannie Farmer, Taught the Importance of Exact Measurements in Cooking
- Hessy Levinsons Taft, Shoah Survivor and Chemistry Teacher
- Irene Joliot-Curie, Chemist Who Studied Radium and Radioactivity
- Julia Child, Researcher and Celebrity Chef
- Kara McCullough, Physical Scientist and Miss USA 2017
- Margaret Rudkin, Founded Pepperidge Farm by Baking Bread
- Marie Maynard Daly, The First African American Woman to Receive a PhD in Chemistry
- Marie Skłodowska Curie, Radiology Pioneer and the Only Woman to Ever be Awarded Two Nobel Prizes in Different Sciences
- Margaret Thatcher, Research Chemist
- Sheri McCoy, Scientist with Degrees in Textile Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Medical Researchers:
- Abella of Salerno, One of the First Women Employed at a Medical School
- Ada Yonath, Crystallographer Who Identified the Structure of a Ribosome
- Alessandra Giliani, The First Female Practitioner of Anatomy and Pathology
- Alice Ball, Creator of the First Real Treatment for Leprosy
- Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe
- Barbara McClintock, Cytogeneticist
- Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Nobel Prize Winning Biologist
- Elizabeth Blackburn, Former President of Salk Institute for Biological Studies
- Esther Lederberg-Simon, Microbiologist Who Discovered the Lambda Phage
- Florence R Sabin, First Female President of Johns Hopkins University
- Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, The Virologist Who Co-Discovered HIV
- Gertrude B Elion, Pharmacologist Who Developed Medicines for Herpes, Malaria, Leukemia, and More
- Gerty Cori, Biochemist
- Dr. Jane C Wright, Pioneering Cancer Researcher and Oncologist
- Janet Wojcicki, Anthropologist and Epidemiologist
- Linda B Buck, Physiologist and Neurobiologist
- Linnda Caporael, Proposed Ergot Poisoning as a Cause for the Salem Witch Trials
- Mamie Phipps Clark, Psychologist Who Focused on The Effects of Segregation in School Children
- Margaret Floy Washburn, The First Woman to Earn a PhD in Psychology
- Maria Montessori, Creator of the Montessori Learning Technique
- Mary Mallon, "Typhoid Mary"
- Mary Whiton Calkins, The First Female President of the American Psychological Association
- May-Britt Moser, Psychologist and Neuroscientist
- Mayim Bialik, Actress and Neuroscientist
- Nettie Stevens, Geneticist Who Worked on the Theory of Sex Determination
- Dr. Olivia Hooker, Psychologist who Worked with People with Disabilities
- Patricia Bath, Ophthalmologist and Laser Scientist
- Rita Levi-Montalcini, Neurologist and Physician
- Rosalind Franklin, the Woman Who Identified the Double Helix Structure of DNA
- Rosalyn Yalow, Biochemist and Medical Physicist
- Ruth Westheimer, Sexologist Known Affectionately as Dr. Ruth
- Sarah Anzick, Molecular Biologist
- Tu Youyou, Pharmaceutical Chemist
Physics:
- Chien-Shiung Wu, Theoretical Physicist
- Katherine Johnson, Physicist and Hidden Figure
- Laura Bassi, Pioneer of Newtonian Physics and the First Woman to Have a Fully-Fledged Career as a Scientist
- Lise Meitner, Physicist Who Co-Discovered Nuclear Fission
- Maria Goeppert Mayer, Theoretical Physicist
- Sau Lan Wu, Particle Physicist
- Shirley Ann Jackson, Physicist
Veterinary or Zoological Sciences:
- Bindi Irwin, Animal Conservationist
- Jane Goodall, Pioneering Primatologist
- Joan Beauchamp Procter, Zoologist and Herpetologist
- Maria Sibylla Merian, Entomologist and Scientific Illustrator
- Mary Anning, Paleontology Pioneer
- Mary Higby Schweitzer, Paleontologist who Made an Astonishing Discovery
- Rebecca Skloot, Vet Tech and Scientific Writer
Women Who Worked in the Medical Field:
- Agnodice, Possible Legend, Athens' First Female Doctor
- Alice Berry Graham, Co-Created Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri
- Alice Bullis Ayler, Psychologist who Worked for the Oklahoma School System
- Anandi Gopal Joshi, The First Indian Woman to Learn Western Medicine
- Anna Bagenholm, Radiologist and World Record Holder
- Anne Sheafe Miller, Nursing School Graduate & the First Patient Saved by Penicillin
- Major Annie Fox, The First Female Recipient of the Combat Purple Heart
- Augusta Chiwy, Volunteer Nurse During the Battle of the Bulge
- Biddy Mason, Former Slave Turned Midwife and Entrepreneur
- Clara Barton, Nurse and Founder of the American Red Cross
- Elizabeth Blackwell, The First Woman to Earn a Medical Degree from a United States Medical School
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, The First Woman to Qualify as a Surgeon & Doctor in Great Britain
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Sociologist who Worked with Disenfranchised People
- Gisella Perl, Gynecologist in Auschwitz
- Hannah Anderson Ropes, Nurse During the War Between the States
- Dr. Hawa Abdi, The First Gynecologist in Somalia
- Irene Drummond, Head Nurse Killed in the Bangka Island Massacre
- Jyoti Singh, Medical Student Who Was Incredibly Close to Becoming a Doctor Before Her Horrific Murder
- Juliet Opie Hopkins, A Nurse in the War Between the States
- Kajal Singh nee Sharma, Medical Student and Dowry Crime Victim
- Karen Horney, Psychoanalyst Famous For Criticizing Freudian Views
- Katharine Berry Richardson, Co-Created Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri
- Magistra Hersend, One of Louis IX's Surgeons During the Seventh Crusade
- Margaret Bulkley, Army Surgeon Who Performed One of the First Successful C-Sections
- Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, Union Surgeon During the War Between the States
- Mary Seacole, Nurse During the Crimean War
- Dr. Marie Equi, Birth Control Provider and Political Demonstrator
- Merit Ptah, the World's Earliest Documented Female Scientist and Physician
- Dr. Oluwo Adedunmola, The Doctorpreneur
- Oriana Moon Andrews, Confederate Doctor and Surgeon
- Peseshet, The Second Oldest Known Female Physician
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler, The First African American Female Doctor in the United States
- Dr. Ruth Pfau, Medical Missionary and Catholic Nun
- Stanislawa Leszczysnka, the Midwife of Auschwitz
- Susan Anderson, One of the First Female Doctors in Colorado
- Susan La Flesche Picotte, The First Native American Woman to Earn a Medical Degree
- Susie King Taylor, the First African American Army Nurse in United States History
- Vivian (Bullwinkel) Statham, The Only Survivor of the Bangka Survivor Massacre, Nurse
- Yvonne Dionne, Nurse and One Fifth of the First Set of Quintuplets to Survive Infancy