Tomorrow (Tuesday 8 March) is International Women’s Day. To celebrate, we asked  our female Editors a few questions about gender equality (and other issues) in STEM and we’ll be posting their answers over the next four days.

We begin our International Women’s Day posts on a positive note, finding out a little more about our Editors. The first question that we asked them was: What made you want to pursue a career in science and were there any female scientists in particular who inspired you to pursue a career in STEM?

Jana Vamosi: I had no idea what I wanted to do until I was well into my twenties. I took a class in Evolutionary Biology at the end of my undergraduate degree. I loved learning the unifying theories and applying my nascent skills in biomathematics. I went on to start graduate studies with Dr Sally Otto at the University of British Columbia and her mentorship inspired me to consider a career in STEM.

Rachel McCrea: I always loved mathematics at school but never realised you could make a career out of it.  I didn’t think about my career path as such when choosing what to study at university but just chose a subject that I enjoyed.  My two (female) A-level maths teachers are to thank for me not pursuing medicine or veterinary science as they really supported me and taught me double-maths at A-level, even though only myself and one other student chose to take it.  I was inspired by Simon Singh’s book on Fermat’s Last Theorem and whilst at university I discovered that even though pure mathematics was not for me I really liked statistics so decided to study for an MSc.  Since then I have never turned back!  Continue reading “International Women’s Day: What Inspired You to Pursue a Career in Science?”