Women in professional mathematic and scientific fields everywhere reached a landmark as Ohio State celebrated its 25th annual Women in Science day on March 19. To celebrate the achievement, middle school students gathered at the Drake Union to participate in a series of workshops that showcased the different fields of science.
Directed by Raquel Diaz-Sprague and hosted by the College of Engineering, Women in Science Day was designed to introduce young girls to different career paths and activities within the scientific realm, including chemistry, physics, aquatic ecology and graphic design. OSU students and staff volunteered their time to help encourage young female minds to explore and pursue these traditionally male-dominated fields.
Libby Marschall, one of the three faculty members who perform research in aquatic ecology, led the aquatic ecology workshop. "Is this a male dominated field?" she asked. "It's not quite as male-dominated as it appears today … but it still is. There is still the assumption that when you walk in to a room where there is a man and a woman standing, that the man is in charge. It is so frustrating."
The workshops were held in various buildings on campus and hosted by OSU staff and faculty. Each of the 19 workshops featured hands-on activities and was specifically geared toward engaging young minds.
The aquatic ecology workshop, held in the Aquatic Ecology lab on Kinnear Road, educated students about the day-to-day lives of ecologists and outlined the pathway to a career in science. The three-part workshop featured a slide show, an outside lecture addressing the tools and equipment used by ecologists, and a hands-on lab where students could handle microscopes and view enlarged digital photos of aquatic wildlife.
One eighth grade girl from Valley View Middle School in Germantown thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. As one of the 18 girls from her school's honors science program that were selected to attend Women in Science Day, Kathleen was interested in the slideshow and the accompanying lecture that addressed the water ecology, such as plankton. "It was really cool," she said. "I felt like I learned a lot."
Kelly Topolewski, a junior in biology, volunteered with Women in Science Day because it is important for the students to "explore lots of options that they didn't know about" in the science fields, she said. "It took me a long time," Topolewski said. "I went through lots of majors, changed so many times. I wore my options out." Now planning a career in medicine, Topolewski encourages other women and girls who are considering taking up the sciences to enroll in some exploratory classes.
On the other hand, other OSU students, such as Sarah Vinson, a sophomore in industrial systems engineering, just knew that they belonged in science. "I kind of feel proud," she said. "I'm a girl in engineering. I have always really liked solving problems, and I feel that engineers solve the problems that I like to solve."
Vinson encourages girls and women who are interested in science not to give up. "Even if you aren't in college yet, you should find out as much as you can," she said. For those in college, she recommends taking classes to experience what it would be like to work in the science fields. "Just stick with it."
Brittany Brown can be reached at brown.2956@osu.edu.
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