It is no secret that the proportion of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is much lower than that of men. According to the global non-profit organization Catalyst, women accounted for less than a third (28.4 per cent) of those employed in scientific research and development across the world in 2013.
In Canada specifically, the percentage of women working in the STEM fields has increased only by 2 per cent in the past three decades to 22 per cent in 2015 from 20 per cent in 1987.
Things are slowly improving, but there is still a long way to go. This is why at the Sea Around Us we thought it was important to introduce you, our readers, to the female scientists whose work is key to the success of our project.
“Just as there are many challenges due to the dynamic nature of the social and institutional systems that women researchers encounter throughout their life course, so there are several opportunities for progress,” Council of Canadian Academies’ report of the Expert Panel on Women in University Research.
From left to right: Madeline Cashion, Brittany Derrick, Krista Greer, Lincoln Hood, Amy Coghlan, Deng Palomares, Angelina Coulter, Sarah Popov. Photo by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud