Meaning of STEM.
On the 22nd of December 2015, The United Nations Organization (UNO) picked the 11th of every February to celebrate all women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics hence (STEM).
Why do we celebrate this day?
A significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world. Even though women have made tremendous progress toward increasing their participation in higher education, they are still under-represented in these fields. That’s why we have to celebrate and advocate for all women and girls in every field in order to fill this gap.
Did you know?
According to United Nations, Women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of national science academies are women. And in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman.
So (El-shai) likes to celebrate those hardworking women and girls throughout the history of Egypt.
Dr.Hilana Sedrous (1904-1998)
She is the first female doctor in both Egypt and the Middle East. She was born in Tanta to a Coptic Egyptian family. Her father sent her to study at a school named "Madraset Al Saneyah" for girls after finishing primary school.
As it was not allowed for girls to study further than 3rd primary and the only available job for women at the time was teaching. So she went to a teaching school but just after the second year, she earned a scholarship to study mathematics in England she changes that later to study medicine in 1922.
Dr. Sedarous returned to Egypt in 1930 as an obstetrician and gynecologist. Later this year worked in “Kitchener” hospital in Shubra, Cairo.
Fun Fact:
On the same scholarship to England in 1922, there was another female pioneer named Dr. Tawhida Abdel-Rahman (1906-1974). She was the first Egyptian woman employed in the government of Egypt in 1933. She refused to marry at that age wanting t get a proper education. She also refused to get British citizenship. Insisting on getting back to Egypt to serve her country and people.
Latifa elnadi (1907-2002)
Born in Cairo, Latifa is the first African as well as Egyptian woman to fly a plane from Cairo to Alexandria and one of the first female pilots in the whole world!
She attended flight lessons with 33 male classmates. She got her pilot’s license in 1933 and flew her father over the pyramids in the same year.
She won the international race between Cairo and Alexandria and received a prize of 200 euros with the congratulations of king Fuad and Huda elsha’arawi.
Another Fun Fact:
We have another Dr.Latifa elnadi (1934-)!
But this Latifa pioneered in nuclear physics. She is the first female Egyptian to earn a doctorate in nuclear physics and was called (ام الفيزياء النووية).
When asked about her love for nuclear physics she said that she got inspired by her high school science teacher who was the main reason for her love for this field. That was beside her admiration for the famous scientist Marie curie.
She published nearly 130 scientific researches in many fields. She met most of Egypt's geniuses, some of them are Dr, Mustafa El-Sayed, and Dr.Magdy Yacoub.
Marie Bassili Assaad (1922-2018)
Marie Assaad was a pioneer social scientist, and anthropologist, and was one of the most important activists who spoke against female genital mutilation (FGM). She joined the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) just at the age of 13 and she represented the movement at the second world conference of Christian Youth in Oslo in 1947. She graduated from the AUC in Cairo with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology. She focused on anthropological research about population studies. Her innovative study on FGM in Egypt and Africa in 1970 had a huge influence on our society to get rid of such sinful acts.
Dr.Rashika ElRidi
She’s a professor of Immunology at the department of animals at the faculty of science, Cairo University. She found a new drug to treat schistosomiasis (البلهارسيا) with almost no side effects, noting that this disease affects almost 2 million each year. This drug was tested with a success rate of 70%.
In 2010, Dr.elridi won L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in science. She was among the most five successful women in the continents of the world!
We don’t really have to wait to celebrate women in certain fields on specific days.
Let this be an invitation to celebrate all women from different backgrounds.
