In participation in the British Science Week 2018, the University of Dundee Women in STEM Society is carrying out interviews with women in STEM to get to know them better and hear their experience working in STEM fields.
Today we have Simran Chopra, a Level 3 BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences student.
Q: Where do you hope to take your degree?
A: At the moment I am drawn between pursuing a career in research in the field of Endocrinology and Diabetes or going into Pharmaceutical Management.
Q: Do you remember what it was that first made you look at STEM as a viable career path?
A: From a very early age in my life I was always fascinated by the sciences, as it always made me curious about, why our world is the way it is and how things work. This led on to my interest and attraction about the intricacies of the human body. The complexity is what intrigued me about why things go wrong and how science and medicine are used to find cures. However the biggest inspiration in my life who encouraged me to want to pursue a career in STEM has to be my dad. He is a General Surgeon himself and I would always be fascinated by the stories he would tell me about the cases he would encounter and it is these stories that made me curious about why things go wrong in the human body.
Q: Male dominance in STEM subjects is still very common, why do you think this may be?
A: I think a major reason that this difference exists is due to social stigmas. Even today in many countries, people still question whether it is appropriate for women to pursue these subjects and careers which can often discourage highly capable women to enter these fields.
Q: What are your views on the disproportion between females studying in STEM fields, and those that hold higher up positions in said fields?
A: Again I feel this stems down to societal views and stereotypes associated with women pursuing STEM related subjects and careers. However this can be changed by doing various things such as, encouraging high school girls to take maths, physics, chemistry, and computer science, classes when available, increase the awareness about the achievements of women in math and science, tell all students about the stereotypes and how these are wrong so that we can promote a growing mindset. Finally in the work place, there should be a monitoring system to ensure that the working environment is safe.
Q: If you could have dinner with one inspirational woman in STEM, dead or alive, who would you choose? And why?
A: If I could have dinner with an inspirational woman in STEM it would definitely have to be Rosalind Franklin. This would be because of her remarkable findings about understanding the molecular structure of DNA. But also because she did not get the accreditation she deserved at the time which also demonstrates the male dominance in STEM subjects at the time. So I would like to have a discussion with her regarding her view on this and how she thinks we can change this now in the 21st century.
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