Women's History Month | Women Who Have Made Contributions in STEM and Skilled Trades

March is Women’s History Month.

Women’s History Month started off as Women’s History Day in 1909. February 28, 1909, to be exact, was the one-year anniversary of the 15,000 women who marched in the garment workers’ strikes. In 1978, Women’s History Day got upgraded to a week-long celebration and then in 1987 Women’s History Month was established and would officially be celebrated annually during the month of March.

Did you know… Wyoming was the first territory to allow women to vote in 1869 AND it was the first state to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross. She was elected in 1924.

To celebrate, we would like to honor women in STEM and skilled trades who are making and have made important contributions to progress in these fields. Typically, women are the minority in STEM and skilled trades workforces, representing only 28% of the population in STEM and less than 10% in the trades. We’d like to help bridge that gap, and start our efforts with creating more visibility of the women and gender minorities already working in these areas.

A great place to start your search for some role models of women in STEM and skilled trades is our podcast, Closing the Gap. Closing the Gap features women and other gender minorities who work in STEM, skilled trades, and related fields that may typically have a workforce dominated by men.

A Short List of Some Women in STEM

Megan Bang – Educator and Senior Vice President at the Spencer Foundation
Dr. Patricia Bath – Ophthalmologist & Inventor
Marie van Brittan Brown – Nurse and Inventor
Ursula Burns – Mechanical Engineer
Erika Camacho – Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and advocate for diversity in the world of mathematics.
Rachel Carson – Ecologist
France A. Córdova – Astrophysicist and the director of the National Science Foundation.
Ashley D’Antonio – Forestry Professor
Caitlin Doughty – Funeral Director
Jeanette Epps – Aerospace Engineer and NASA Astronaut
Rosalind Franklin – Scientist
Maria Da Penha – Brazilian Biopharmacist and defender of human rights for women.
Dr. Sioban Day Grady – Computer Scientist
Andrea Delgado-Olson – Founder of Native American Women in Computing.
Ella Cara Deloria – Anthropologist
Sarah Echohawk – CEO of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).
Ruth Gonzalez – First Hispanic woman to earn a Doctorate in Mathematics.
Dr. Betty Harris – Chemist
Christina Hernandez – Payload Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Nicole Hernandez-Hammer – Guatemalan-American climate scientist.
Scarlin Hernandez – Aerospace engineer working on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Susana Ibarra – El Salvador’s first female commercial airline pilot
Mary Jackson – Mathematician and Scientist
Mae Jemison – Engineer, Physician, & NASA Astronaut
Kathrine Johnson – Mathematician
Shivali Kadam – Chemical Engineer
Robin Wall Kimmerer – Environmental Biologist and Ecologist
Ada Lovelace – Mathematician
Jane Lubchenco – Environmental Scientist and Marine Ecologist
Robin Maxkii – Technology Activist
Mireya Mayor – Primatologist
Ynés Mexía – Mexican-American botanist who discovered two new plant genera and 500 new plant species.
Ellen Ochoa – The first Hispanic woman to go to space.
Bertha Parker – Archaeologist
Ommidala Pattawong – Chemist and Chemistry Professor
Susan La Flesche Picotte – Physician
Freda Porter – Mathematician
Mary Golda Ross – Aeronautical Engineering
Reshma Saujani – Founder of Girls Who Code
Hayat Sindi – Scientist and Humanitarian
Valerie Thomas – Scientist & Inventor
Dorothy Vaughan – Engineer
Sisi Virasak – Computer Science Professor
Madam C.J. Walker – Inventor
Gladys West – Mathematician
Jennifer Wong-Ala – Oceanographer
Tu Youyou – Chemist