In every community of every field, there will be groups of majorities and groups of minorities. Commonly, groups of minorities face poor representation and therefore come to face obstacles for it, some of which can result in blockades towards their path to success. Women across the globe struggle in their area of professions due to being the minority group while men tend to be the group dominating the area of profession, allowing them to bypass many of these obstacles. Some struggles women face include lower pay grade, negatively biased attitudes, harassment, discrimination, and less support compared to men.
The limitations women face worldwide cause fewer opportunities for women to advance in their profession. Senior Lily Schmidt, who plans to major in economics, noted, “if an employer has two extremely qualified people in front of them both with the same resume, and one’s a guy and one’s a woman, there are subtle biases that have been embedded into society [resulting in] the guy [being more likely] to be hired.” Females specifically working in the broad field of STEM work twice as hard to be treated with the same respect and acknowledgement that the males in their field receive, emphasizing the weight of importance for female representation and celebration in male occupied workplaces.
Christina Koch is a female engineer and NASA astronaut, being the first woman to travel around the moon on spaceship Artemis II, funded by NASA. Koch is one example of female minorities in numerous male dominated fields. Koch not only works in the male filled field of engineering, but was also the only female on the recent space mission Artemis II. Koch’s achievements and presence in her fields of work is not only an important contribution to female representation and acknowledgment in her male-dominated field, but also an inspiration to women working, and struggling, for those same achievements.
Koch’s trip on Artemis II was an inspiring moment for women across the world working for the same opportunities in places where they face struggles because of their gender. Senior Maneli Malboubi who’s majoring in psychology and minoring in political science believes, “[Koch] is such an amazing representation of women around the world, she is a role model for all the incredible women who want to go into aerospace or astronautical work, because those are very male-dominated fields yet the fact that she’s even up [on the ship] and being the only woman there..it’s astonishing.”
Among the expanse of men in such complex professions, countless women never receive acknowledgment for their ideas or hard work because of the fact they’re female. However through celebration of Koch’s ideas and accomplishments, confidence is ignited in women striving for that recognition in their own jobs. Schmidt agreed, “it’s really inspiring for girls, they’re gonna be [amazed] that they can do that too and it’s not just [the stereotypical] men getting to go around the moon; now people get to see a woman do that.” Koch proved that despite being in the female minority, she was still able to be extremely successful while also serving as a role model and representation to the women working in STEM.
Koch’s trip on Artemis II has inspired thousands of women in every area of the planet to keep working hard despite facing gender limitations. Malboubi adds, “Fighting that quota, and that stigma is so important…just proving that women can be mathematicians, women can be engineers, because women are just so smart.” Freshman Megan Polk shares the same feelings, “I think so many women have the ideas and motivation to do such great things but can’t because of the stereotypes around them that say that they don’t have the ability to do those things.” The international stereotypes trapping women prevent them from proving their true potential which further encourages the idea that women are unable to do certain things.
Women have the same capabilities as men do, so why are they constantly overlooked for their knowledge and hard work? Malboubi argues, “The gender stigmas and the gender biases that we have in our brain [are what cause us to overlook women].” These stigmas and biases have been ingrained into society, rewiring the ways of societal thinking. However, “I think a way of fighting that is getting more women in the STEM, engineering, mathematics [and other fields that women aren’t commonly seen in] workforces and removing the bizarre idea [of a woman working in that field]” Malboubi adds. By having a strong representation of women across all workforces the negative opprobrium they face is treated, allowing for more women to receive the same appreciation and acceptance that most men get and therefore opening more doors for opportunities to advance.
