Feb 10

Feb 10 Women Turning the Tide: Achievements of Women and the Unspoken Truth

Meghiya Michelle on behalf of iGEM Community’s WiSTEM Initiative

This Saturday (February 11) we celebrate the International Day of Womens and Girls in Science - a day proclaimed by the United Nations aiming “to ensure full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls.” Once thought to be the domain of men, fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are increasingly being seen as equally capable of being mastered by women. Nevertheless, societal acceptability, impostor syndrome, and women who doubt their capacity to realize their lofty goals still persist notwithstanding gender parity.

The Women in STEM (WiSTEM) initiative of the iGEM community aims to inspire all women and marginalized individuals to pursue careers in STEM and SynBio through event organization, community engagement, education and mentorship. As a part of the iGEM 2022 Grand Jamboree in Paris, WiSTEM hosted a Women in SynBio Symposium event - “Women Turning the Tide” - to celebrate and highlight inspirational women.

This two day event showcased remarkable women across the globe who presented their accomplishments in a variety of vocations, in addition to providing networking and workshops designed to inspire young women in the iGEM community to be courageous in choosing their career paths and to contribute to the accomplishment of women as well. In this post, we present highlights from WiSTEM’s Women in SynBio Symposium.

“WiSTEM has been growing for a couple of years now and the symposium marked all the great work done by fantastic team members - two days full of passionate talks and workshops about inclusivity designed to encourage young scientists to pursue scientific and leadership careers. The symposium's highlight was a panel discussion which shared the thoughts of inspiring women.”
- Nemira Zilinskaite - Coordinator of Women in STEM (WiSTEM) Initiative

Women of iGEM

The Women in SynBio Symposium featured "Women of iGEM" who are inspirational in developing and interacting with synthetic biology and women's enlightenment in their unique approaches, such as in academia, entrepreneurship, community, or workplace, including:

Belfu Berkol is a young entrepreneur who launched her enterprise at the age of 8 after channeling her love of science and her curiosity into it. At 15, she acquired a patent for a bio-plastic-related invention. She is a shining proof of how to challenge social expectations in research and enterprise. One major key takeaway to learn from Belfu is to transform your curiosity into excitement.

Renske van Raaphorst, an iGEM Groningen 2012 participant, described her ten-year scientific career, which spanned from iGEM to PhD and beyond. Renske was one of judges for the IGEM Jamboree 2022 and currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Louvain in Belgium. She spoke about the challenges she encountered while choosing a career path for herself and how she overcame the imposter syndrome brought on by herself and her surroundings, which made jokes about her, showing invalidation and creating the sense that feminism is something to be scoffed at.

“You need to create your own professional identity. Who are you and who do you want to be? Recognize your personal qualities and abilities, and refuse to let anyone treat you poorly, even if they are unaware they are doing so.”

— Renske van Raaphorst

Alinta Furnell, a female entrepreneur and the founder of Synbiote, a startup spun off from the iGEM Startups Venture Creation Lab program 2021, also spoke about her enthusiasm for science communication, and how she unintentionally discovered and became passionate about starting an entrepreneurial career.

Let’s Talk About the Gender Gap

The Symposium also featured several influential women, including Esther Kim, the founder of EA Biosciences, Megan Palmer, the executive director of Bio Policy and Leadership Initiatives, and Nadine Bongaerts, the Chief Science Officer of Gourmey, to share their thoughts on how reducing the gender gap may be achieved through the open and honest sharing of their experiences and viewpoints on the current situation of the STEM industry. They discussed topics like the pay gap and stereotype-busting topics that may be viewed as taboo.

WiSTEM Advocates from Corporate to Non-Profit Organization

Workplace gender inequality is a common occurrence. It goes beyond unequal compensation to include things like the difficulty in getting promotions for women, the prevalence of sexual harassment, and more. Businesses must make changes and set accessibility targets for attaining gender equality. Beatriz Pacheco from Ginkgo Bioworks spoke about Ginkgo's efforts and the value of community, emphasizing how each of us grows and changes in a setting where we feel secure and heard. A workplace must be a place to provide a healthy environment for its workers.

Nonprofit organizations, such as UNESCO, are also among the major players in influencing and playing a part in closing the gender gap in society. Justine Sass (Chief of Education for Inclusion and Gender Equity of UNESCO) discussed STEM initiatives that support young girls and women by allowing girls from various backgrounds the chance to invest in their education and challenge social conventions by illuminating the truth that all everyone needs is a chance.

Giving everyone, regardless of gender, a chance to voice their views is crucial when discussing the gender gap. We must examine the mechanisms that develop and maintain the issue from all perspectives if we are to comprehend it more fully. Amal Kasry, the Chief of UNESCO's section for capacity building in basic science and engineering, hosted a workshop where participants from various backgrounds, cultures, genders, and scientific fields sat down and discussed the factors that contribute to inequality and how they may affect each person's career path without prejudice and with an eye toward improvement.

Take the First Step towards Female Entrepreneurship

Only one woman out of every 4.4 men become biotech or synthetic biology entrepreneurs, according to a mini-study by the WiSTEM Initiative in 2021. Among the 258 firms that were studied, there were only an average of 19% female founders. For a woman interested in entrepreneurship or aspiring to be one, there are numerous obstacles to overcome. One of the biggest obstacles is a lack of mentorship. To address the challenge, the symposium's event included an entrepreneurship session where Patricia Rodil from iGEM Design League mentored women on how to launch their own business ventures and assisted them in making connections with investors and venture capitalists.

Women in SynBio Symposium and Beyond

The Women in SynBio Symposium was well received and generated great interest in how many career paths are being forged by women in the field of synthetic biology. Though the symposium was mainly attended by women, a significant number of men participated in the workshops and talks. Through the Women in SynBio Symposium, the WiSTEM Initiative was able to bring awareness to women and men who may have doubted the existence of the gender gap, and demonstrated how everyone may contribute to and take action in eradicating stereotypes, regardless of background or gender. Importantly, the symposium allowed participants to recognize that to be successful in our personal and professional lives, we will all undoubtedly suffer from falls no matter how talented we are, and that this is normal and we should not be afraid of failure because it is part of growth.

As we progress in 2023 and beyond, iGEM Community’s WiSTEM topic aims to continue to contribute to empowering women and marginalized individuals in whatever small or significant ways we can as individuals or as a community through discussions that were previously unapologetically difficult to have. Through our community, we hope to reveal and offer more insights to both men and women.