In fact I'm rather surprised that I've had a career in STEM at all. You know why? Because when I was growing up everybody told me that I was a natural dancer. Literally no one told me I was a natural engineer. When I was growing up we thought that STEM was for boys and for really clever people. I'm always reminded of this quote: You don't have to be perfect, you just have to try and be good enough” - said Sarah Chapman, Senior Technical Manager Keynote Speaker at 3M, during her inspirational keynote speech at the Main Stage - Some recent research found that parents are more likely to overestimate boys' ability in math than we do for girls. Women are still underrepresented in science and technology. And if you're an underrepresented group you're probably not going to find a role model that's exactly like you. So my vision is that girls have a sky full of stars to aspirate. These stars are all different, they're all brilliant, these stars are at the top of their game, they're the ones who are smashing those glass ceilings, they're the ones who are just really breaking down barriers and smashing stereotypes. They're visible, they're inspirational, they're mind-blowing.
But the thing is we need more diverse role models and we need to tell their stories more widely. Those Stars, they're inspirational but they're far away so we also need people closer to home, these are what I call the Street Lights. They're the friends, the family, the managers, the mentors, the parents, the teachers, the co-workers, the volunteers.
The Street Lights are probably not winning awards, they're not in the media, but they are authentic and they're accessible. They may be a little less brilliant than the Stars but they're no less important and they're no less inspirational.
