Murray Edwards College recently hosted a two-day festival to honour the women who have shaped, and continue to shape, the STEM disciplines both within this university and beyond. The festivities started after a keynote address by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astrophysicist who discovered pulsars while a research student at New Hall College (now Murray Edwards) in 1967. Her speech on her experience as a female astrophysicist highlighted the inequalities and struggles faced by women in Cambridge at the time. She recounts how every time she entered a lecture hall, she would be met with foot stamps and whistles from the entire male contingent – and this was only in the 1960s!

“Every time she entered a lecture hall, she would be met with foot stamps and whistles from the entire male contingent”

The auditorium was flooded with successful women in STEM – with multiple audience members, who were alumnae of the college, recounting their time at Murray Edwards and the success they have found as women in STEM since graduating. One woman explained how she was the first woman to sit Part II Physics at Cambridge University, with her 50 years of contribution to the Cavendish Laboratory leading to a PhD award at the age of 70. The driving message was one of inspiration: that women can and should pursue their careers at the same time as other pursuits, such as raising a family.

In the breaks, intellectual conversation blossomed over sips of coffee. This was, for many, including Dame Bell Burnell, the highlight of the festival – Cambridge and sixth form students alike chatted confidently to alumnae, alumnae to leading STEM researchers, researchers to colleagues. The air was filled with hope – hope and promise for the role of women in science and engineering, hope for the college and the students studying here, and hope for the speakers, knowing their wisdom was appreciated and acknowledged.

“Cambridge and sixth form students alike chatted confidently to alumnae, alumnae to leading STEM researchers, researchers to colleagues”

The afternoon started with a talk from Chi Onwurah – the shadow secretary of state for science. “There has been a long history of women in STEM – it’s just their stories haven’t been celebrated enough,” she stated, as the images of past women were proudly displayed above her. Ada Lovelace, who existed “at a time where 100% of computer scientists were women”, must be proud looking over not just an audience, but potential computer scientists, from sixth form students to Cambridge students and alumni of all ages and backgrounds.

A highlight of the festival focused on the discourse surrounding single-sex education, particularly in STEM. A panel discussing university STEM teaching addressed this, chaired by Dr Sarah Williams, with Professor Rebecca Kilner, Dr Jessica Wade and Professor Val Gibon. Professor Kilner seemed keen to separate men and women in education settings in order to build women’s confidence and for students not to be talked over in supervisions. This was questioned by Amy Lawson, a NatSci in the audience, who suggested that we should ask not how women should be taught to increase their confidence, but how men should be taught to lower theirs and respect their peers. Met by a loud round of applause, this statement brought a new dimension to the conference and a focus on how to systematically change education in STEM.

“We should ask not how women should be taught to increase their confidence, but how men should be taught to lower theirs and respect their peers”

Who told Barbie she was bad at maths? How can we make gender equality in STEM a reality? And where are the women leaders in medicine? Day two was full of more questions, accompanied by a star-studded group of panellists, which included both vice-chancellors from Oxford and Cambridge. They emphasised how one should enter the STEM pipeline throughout their career, with a real focus on changing the discourse that if you chose your life path at a young age, you’d be disbarred from options in later life. Showing passion for their careers in education, they reiterated that society should reward academic staff for teaching at all levels and not just for research. The value and importance of education are important and can lead to wider representation, especially in places such as Oxbridge.

An inspirational talk at Cambridge is not complete without the mention of Voltaire – with Professors Hirantya Peris and Katherine Blundell referencing how “perfect is the enemy of good”. The perfectionist curse runs rife through academic institutions such as our own – but they insist that your value doesn’t derive just from exams, and sometimes, the best people in the real world aren’t the ones getting first-class degrees! Open-mindedness and wide-ranging interests are needed, as well as confidence.

Talking to participants after the panels, it became clear to me how valuable such an event was, especially on the grounds of Murray Edwards, which has passionately been empowering women and non-binary people since 1954. “It was really nice and inspiring to see a range of women together in one place,” reported one student after the event. “To have everyone’s voices heard regardless of whether they were sixth-formers, alumni or academics was vital towards discussing all aspects of being a woman in STEM.”

To the women before us, to those who faced discrimination in lecture halls, who were spoken over in supervisions, who were denied academic prizes or not listened to by their male peers – female STEM students now hear you and respect you, and thank you for all that you have done to ensure that the future of STEM can be (rightfully so) a place of collaboration, of respect, and of female and non-binary empowerment.