International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Arise Innovation Hubs are proud to celebrate the achievements of their businesses, and for International Women and Girls in Science Day, we have been talking to some of our incredible occupants about their work in science.

 

One of the women who is making a difference in the world of science is Karen Harrison. She has over 10 years’ experience in the nutrition and genetics industry, more than 6,500hrs of clinic consultations either supporting her own clients or supervising nutrition students.

 

Karen has a BSc Nutritional Science (achieved in 2014) and one of fifty alumni of MSc Nutrition and Genetics (achieved in 2019).

 

Karen runs Team Gene, which is a genetic interpretation company that supports athletes to optimise their health.

 

“[The world] needs to support the initial impressions of young women in schools and science clubs. They play a vital role showing how science is inclusive and that women are welcome and have the same opportunities if they seek them out. It’s special to be a woman in science because we are natural problem solvers with a higher capacity of empathy to the proposed problem. This is true for women in any science discipline.”

 

According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics, women represent just over 35% of graduates in STEM-related fields, and in AI professionals only 22% are women.

 

We are proud to say that one of our companies within the Arise Innovation Hubs is tackling this statistic and making strides for gender representation in STEM. Antobot, a robotics company within Arise, have a workforce of 50% women.

 

One of these women is 18 year old Ella Cormack, Mechanical and Electrical Product Development Apprentice. She has been working at Antobot for over a year and a half and studied in college to get her Level 3 Diploma in engineering. Ella is proud of how far she has come in such a short time and talked to us about what being a woman in science means to her.

 

“In my engineering college class for my Level 3 Diploma, there were two women, myself and one other. What's special is that it’s a fairly new thing for women in this industry and the exposure to this industry is honestly just really exciting. Being a part of the new science and innovation that occurs feels like a privilege.”

 

She goes on to say that we must, “normalise women in scientific roles, particularly in leadership roles. Showing women doing these roles publicly will show just how capable we are and that the outdated prejudice against women as leaders is exactly that, outdated.”

 

Both women have mentioned how Arise has helped them as women in science. Ella praises the, “supportive atmosphere here and being able to socialise with other occupants at the coffee mornings. Also, having a strong team of women leading the centres is encouraging, knowing that they are fighting for us to get the recognition we might not get in other circumstances.”

 

But STEM still has a long way to go.

 

To quote Audrey Azoulay Director-General of UNESCO, “women need science, and science needs women. Only by tapping into all sources of knowledge, all sources of talent, can we unlock the full potential of science, and rise to the challenges of our time.”

 

We would love to build our network of women in science here at Arise. If you want to find out more, or see how you can get involved, please get in touch.

 

Posted: 11 February 2023