Allison Beese

Witnessing the decreasing fraction of women in engineering and academia as I have progressed through each stage of my education and career has made me reflect on what we all can and should do to increase the representation of women in STEM fields in general, and in academia in particular. I think the following two quotes from Melinda Gates’ book speak to issue: “Being a feminist means believing that every woman should be able to use her voice and pursue her potential, and that women and men should all work together to take down the barriers and end the biases that still hold women back.” “There will be plenty of resistance, but lasting progress will not come from a power struggle; it will come from a moral appeal. As we bring gender bias out from behind its disguises, more and more men and women will see bias where they hadn’t suspected it and will stand against it. That’s how we change the norms that hide the biases we were blind to. We see them, and we end them.”