Katherine Johnson [1918-20209]
credits: via MSNBC
Katherine Johnson sits at her desk with a globe or 'Celestial Training Device'
credits: NASA
Today we celebrate #WomenInScience because gender equality and women’s empowerment are pre-conditions 4 sustainable development.
Just like NASA’s Katherine Johnson, many #WomenInScience have remained hidden figures Today is about shining a light & confronting stereotypes.
"I counted everything: the steps, the dishes, the stars in the sky,"
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson
Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees, 2015
credits: Carlos Barria/Reuters
President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NASA mathematician Katherine G. Johnson in Washington, November 24, 2015.
Maths has given her joy for as long as she can remember, and it seems that becoming a professional mathematician was her destiny. As an African-American woman from rural West Virginia, however, the path that brought her to the profession seems as extraordinary as the equations she used to help send John Glenn into orbit around the earth and land Neil Armstrong on the moon.
credits: UNESCO
This International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an opportunity for all to take a stand for girls and women in science.
"Girls continue to face stereotypes and social and cultural restrictions, limiting access to education and funding for research, preventing them from scientific careers and reaching their full potential. Women remain a minority in science research and decision-making. This throws a shadow over all efforts to reach the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – both of which highlight the key roles of gender equality and science." Just 28% of researchers are women.
Girls do as well as boys in science and maths at school but many more boys go on to further study science, technology and engineering.
When asked to name her greatest contribution to space exploration, Katherine Johnson talks about the calculations that helped synch Project Apollo’s Lunar Lander with the moon-orbiting Command and Service Module. She also worked on the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Satellite, and authored or coauthored 26 research reports.
Did you know that though 25% of boys and girls report they expect to work in science, they opt for very different careers? Boys are twice as likely as girls to expect to work as engineers, scientists or architects, on average across OECD countries.
Education:
The day must be inspirational for girls to study STEM. Promoting the work of women in science and encouraging girls to enter the sciences is important for achieving the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
Goal 4
credits: Elyx Yak
So, the gap of girls and young women in science and technology in the 21st century is still a big problem. We must motivate the young girls to pursuit Science studies.
As you read below statistics show that there is a noticeable gender gap, with much fewer girls choosing to study for STEM degrees. So the need for change is becoming increasingly urgent.
credits: UNESCO
STEM subjects are still male dominated. And only about half of female Stem graduates go on to work in Stem roles.
This may be due to lack of encouragement from parents, teachers or classmates, or down to the individual – they simply believe they are better suited to a different role."
- Katherine Johnson:
Resources:
- Women in Science: Explore the data Interactive tool produced by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).
- Inspiring stories from women scientists (International Centre of Theoretical Physics)
- The Girl Who Loved to Count/ NASA
- Katherine Johnson Biograpgy/ NASA
- Inspiring STEM stories from history: Women: Katherine Johnson
- 'Hidden Figures' may feature NASA's history, but it resonates in the present/ LA Times Science.
Hidden Figures
Thedore Melfi, 2016
Oscars 2017 nominee
Organize a school-out activity and go to the theater next to school to see the nominee film Hidden Figures.
The story of a team of African-American women mathematicians and scientists, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the US space program.
When asked to name her greatest contribution to space exploration, Katherine Johnson talks about the calculations that helped synch Project Apollo’s Lunar Lander with the moon-orbiting Command and Service Module. She also worked on the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Satellite, and authored or coauthored 26 research reports.
NASA
Hidden Figures
Katherine Johnson/ Tariji P. Henson
Thedore Melfi, 2016
LA Times/ Science Now
http://www.latimes.com/science/l
"The International Day of Women and Girls in Science will directly influence the perception of women in science for sustainable development and elevate the contributions of women in science, past, present and future that equitably reflects the aspirations and ambitions of all global citizens."
G-Souto
11.02.2017
Copyright © 2017G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®
Copyright © 2017G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®
Education : Intl Day of Women & Girls in Science : Katherine Johnson by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
