STEM the tide

Female and male students are equally capable of achievement in high school STEM subjects however just over one in four STEM workers are women. Women make up roughly 50% of the population and by limiting their input we limit innovation.

Research demonstrates that socially diverse groups are more innovative than homogeneous ones. Interacting with people with differing viewpoints can encourage those within established institutions to prepare better, work harder and anticipate challenges. The resulting innovation benefits individuals and produces better outcomes.

Women are just as capable, clever, and gifted as men working in STEM. We can all go further by ensuring equal representation of women and people of diverse backgrounds in STEM spaces.

Read the research: Second national data report on girls and women in STEM

Marie Curie discovered radium, polonium, and coined the term radio-active. Ada Lovelace published the first algorithm and is recognised as the first computer programmer. Dorothy Hodgkin mapped the structure of penicillin allowing researchers to better manufacture life-saving drugs. Katherine Johnson was a NASA mathematician who helped put astronauts on the moon. Mileva Einstein was a physicist who received higher grades than her husband Albert while studying at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich.

The contributions of women in STEM have already shaped the world we live in. How much further can we go if we support the current generation of women in STEM?

Read the research: What we learn from 50 years of kids drawing scientists

It turns out that the temperature standards used in offices around the world were devised for men. The model to determine the ideal workplace temperature was developed in the 1960s based on the average worker of the era: a 40-year-old, 154-pound man dressed in a business suit.

This model was established before women made up half the workforce, and it doesn’t account for women’s physiological differences. Women’s metabolisms run about 35% slower than men’s, which means they also give off less body heat.

Read the research: Room temperatures set for men's comfort may disadvantage women, study finds

At first glance, it might not seem like the presence of breasts on a manikin matters that much. After all, CPR is CPR, right?

But, as it turns out, it does matter, especially in a non-hospital setting. Statistics have consistently found that women are far less likely than men to receive public CPR or have an AED applied to them during an emergency than men.

Experts have theorised that the reason behind the disparity is that because the majority of people out in the real world aren’t trained on how to do CPR on a person with breasts. They are then less likely to feel confident, able or willing to perform CPR or apply an AED when faced with the situation in real life.

Read the research: New CPR training tool has breasts and this is why it matters to women