rom dreams of terraforming Mars to improving deteriorating conditions here on Earth, the space age is rapidly evolving, with its potential applications stretching to touch every facet of human life.
Tackling the challenges of the 21 century and beyond will require unlocking all sources of human ingenuity, creativity, and problem solving—including the female half of the population. As we look toward that horizon, it is time to consider what role women and girls will play in engineering the future of space.
The first all-female spacewalk made recent history at the International Space Station, giving the world a chance to celebrate and reflect on women's role in space. Women currently make up 20% of the global space workforce and only 11% of astronauts, a gender gap that mirrors the lower participation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Not only do STEM careers provide women high-paying jobs, but the value of the ballooning space sector is expected to top $1 trillion in coming years.
Space needs the full contributions and perspectives of women and girls. From monitoring climate change to connecting a constellation of satellites, there are countless ways in which female leadership, intelligence and empathy can help shape the trajectory of space-based solutions that benefit humanity and chart new paths in the stars. The space sector is integral to progress on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and offers opportunities for international partnership.
The United Nations launched its Space4Women initiative in 2020 on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The UN's Office for Outer Space Affairs, led by Italian astrophysicist Simonetta Di Pippo, works to bring the vital benefits of space to all. Its mission is committed to "ensuring that those benefits reach women and girls, and that women and girls play an active and equal role in space science, technology, innovation and exploration."
Global efforts to achieve gender parity include continuing to broaden access to STEM education for girls; and targeted programs to attract, mentor and promote women in space-related fields like robotics, physics, astronomy, earth sciences, medicine, telecommunications, engineering, and more. The European Space Agency, for example, holds career fairs to connect female recruits, and commissioned an art exhibit showing space through the eyes of women and girls. A focus on equality of opportunity helps build the pipeline.
"There is space for everyone in space," emphasizes Yumna Majeed, a space educator who has been providing learning experiences in astronomy to students in Pakistan since she was 18 years old. "As a schoolgirl, I was told space was not an option for me," she says." So, I decided to create it." Emboldened by her love of the Northern Lights, Majeed brushed off stigmas about who space is for and got her first telescope. Now she runs virtual space camps to inspire the next generation of Pakistani youth to envision themselves in the skies. Her work was featured for improving gender equality during Space Week at Expo 2020, the modern-day iteration of the legendary World Fair.
Women are leading the charge to Mars in the United Arab Emirates, where the UAE Space Agency's 35-year-old chairwoman Sarah Al Amiri successfully led the Arab world's first, uncrewed, space mission to the red planet. Her team of 80% female scientists is proof that women can and will lead the way in the next age of space exploration and innovation. They have launched the Hope spacecraft into orbit around our neighboring planet to collect and send back data mapping the Martian atmosphere. Future missions will send probes past Venus to explore nearby asteroids.
Storytelling and other forms of real-life representation help to catapult the possibilities for women in space into the popular imagination. This year, the U.S. Mint launches its American Women Quarters series with coins featuring trailblazing astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. The Smithsonian is celebrating Women's Futures Month, showcasing female scientists working on the technologies of the future. Hollywood is fueling the dream of women in space with blockbuster sci-fi films led by fearless female characters, like Jodie Foster as a SETI scientist in Contact, Jessica Chastain a spacefaring pioneer in Interstellar, Amy Adams an alien linguist in Arrival, and the real-life story of NASA's black female mathematicians as told in Hidden Figures.
The force is especially strong on Twitter, where a vibrant #WomenInSTEM community has given rise to an inspiring tribe of young female space influencers. Aerospace engineer Emily Calandrelli defied stereotypes of what a scientist "should look like" to become a television host and executive producer of FOX's Xploration Outer Space and Netflix's Emily's Wonder Lab. In Brazil, a student club for aerospace medicine and life science (CEMCA) is hosting virtual events on Facebook with female researchers, exploring topics such as how the human body reacts to extraterrestrial environments. Communities to connect women and girls to the power of STEM opportunities are thriving across social media and around the world.
The pandemic has reminded us that we are a truly planetary civilization with our fates bound together. Just as our challenges can be borderless in nature, so can our solutions. It is vital to ensure the benefits of space are universal and equal opportunities exist for all to contribute to its development. As winds of change shape the 21st century, a new generation of women and girls will be helping to lead humanity’s journey into space. From the aerial view, far up above Earth's atmosphere, there's no ceiling in the stars.
a global affairs media network
Women and Girls Could Lead the Race to the Stars
Photo by Sean Pierce via Unsplash.
March 8, 2022
Women remain extremely under-represented in STEM fields. Yet the outsized impact women have had on space science, technology, innovation, and exploration gives us a hint of what is possible as we work to overcome this gender gap, writes Chrissy Horansky.
F
rom dreams of terraforming Mars to improving deteriorating conditions here on Earth, the space age is rapidly evolving, with its potential applications stretching to touch every facet of human life.
Tackling the challenges of the 21 century and beyond will require unlocking all sources of human ingenuity, creativity, and problem solving—including the female half of the population. As we look toward that horizon, it is time to consider what role women and girls will play in engineering the future of space.
The first all-female spacewalk made recent history at the International Space Station, giving the world a chance to celebrate and reflect on women's role in space. Women currently make up 20% of the global space workforce and only 11% of astronauts, a gender gap that mirrors the lower participation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Not only do STEM careers provide women high-paying jobs, but the value of the ballooning space sector is expected to top $1 trillion in coming years.
Space needs the full contributions and perspectives of women and girls. From monitoring climate change to connecting a constellation of satellites, there are countless ways in which female leadership, intelligence and empathy can help shape the trajectory of space-based solutions that benefit humanity and chart new paths in the stars. The space sector is integral to progress on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and offers opportunities for international partnership.
The United Nations launched its Space4Women initiative in 2020 on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The UN's Office for Outer Space Affairs, led by Italian astrophysicist Simonetta Di Pippo, works to bring the vital benefits of space to all. Its mission is committed to "ensuring that those benefits reach women and girls, and that women and girls play an active and equal role in space science, technology, innovation and exploration."
Global efforts to achieve gender parity include continuing to broaden access to STEM education for girls; and targeted programs to attract, mentor and promote women in space-related fields like robotics, physics, astronomy, earth sciences, medicine, telecommunications, engineering, and more. The European Space Agency, for example, holds career fairs to connect female recruits, and commissioned an art exhibit showing space through the eyes of women and girls. A focus on equality of opportunity helps build the pipeline.
"There is space for everyone in space," emphasizes Yumna Majeed, a space educator who has been providing learning experiences in astronomy to students in Pakistan since she was 18 years old. "As a schoolgirl, I was told space was not an option for me," she says." So, I decided to create it." Emboldened by her love of the Northern Lights, Majeed brushed off stigmas about who space is for and got her first telescope. Now she runs virtual space camps to inspire the next generation of Pakistani youth to envision themselves in the skies. Her work was featured for improving gender equality during Space Week at Expo 2020, the modern-day iteration of the legendary World Fair.
Women are leading the charge to Mars in the United Arab Emirates, where the UAE Space Agency's 35-year-old chairwoman Sarah Al Amiri successfully led the Arab world's first, uncrewed, space mission to the red planet. Her team of 80% female scientists is proof that women can and will lead the way in the next age of space exploration and innovation. They have launched the Hope spacecraft into orbit around our neighboring planet to collect and send back data mapping the Martian atmosphere. Future missions will send probes past Venus to explore nearby asteroids.
Storytelling and other forms of real-life representation help to catapult the possibilities for women in space into the popular imagination. This year, the U.S. Mint launches its American Women Quarters series with coins featuring trailblazing astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. The Smithsonian is celebrating Women's Futures Month, showcasing female scientists working on the technologies of the future. Hollywood is fueling the dream of women in space with blockbuster sci-fi films led by fearless female characters, like Jodie Foster as a SETI scientist in Contact, Jessica Chastain a spacefaring pioneer in Interstellar, Amy Adams an alien linguist in Arrival, and the real-life story of NASA's black female mathematicians as told in Hidden Figures.
The force is especially strong on Twitter, where a vibrant #WomenInSTEM community has given rise to an inspiring tribe of young female space influencers. Aerospace engineer Emily Calandrelli defied stereotypes of what a scientist "should look like" to become a television host and executive producer of FOX's Xploration Outer Space and Netflix's Emily's Wonder Lab. In Brazil, a student club for aerospace medicine and life science (CEMCA) is hosting virtual events on Facebook with female researchers, exploring topics such as how the human body reacts to extraterrestrial environments. Communities to connect women and girls to the power of STEM opportunities are thriving across social media and around the world.
The pandemic has reminded us that we are a truly planetary civilization with our fates bound together. Just as our challenges can be borderless in nature, so can our solutions. It is vital to ensure the benefits of space are universal and equal opportunities exist for all to contribute to its development. As winds of change shape the 21st century, a new generation of women and girls will be helping to lead humanity’s journey into space. From the aerial view, far up above Earth's atmosphere, there's no ceiling in the stars.
