Women in STEM: diversity could lead to an equal society

While I was still at school, I came across an advertisement for Finnish upper secondary school chemistry competitions. I decided to participate, and I performed quite well.  

Due to my success in the competition, I received an invitation to Finland’s Chemistry Olympiad training, where Finnish upper secondary school students were prepared for the International Chemistry Olympiad.  

The programme took place mainly at the University of Helsinki's Kumpula campus, and after extensive training, I had the opportunity to represent Finland in the International Chemistry Olympiad. I enjoyed my time on campus, and as a result, I decided to study at the University of Helsinki. When choosing my major, I deliberated between chemistry and physics for a long time. Despite mathematics being my favourite subject in school, studying it at university did not interest me. I wanted to use mathematics to solve problems and proving some lemmas or theorems wasn’t for me.  

For this reason, I chose chemistry as my major but selected physics as my minor, as chemistry offered a fascinating field of study and physics allowed me to apply mathematics in the real world. 

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Even though the majority of my classmates are women, STEM fields are still heavily gender divided globally, with the majority of people still working in these fields being men. 

However, it is crucial that all genders pursue careers in these fields because diverse perspectives and backgrounds open doors to new research, technology and scientific development.  

People make decisions and generate ideas that benefit them in the future, and since the majority of people working in STEM are men, the current world has been built for them.  

For example, car crash test dummies with a female body hadn’t been developed even though male and female bodies suffer differently in crash situations owing to physique. That was until a Swedish female engineer developed one this year. Therefore, for humanity to progress toward equality, people from all backgrounds need to be part of this development. 

My own plans after university are still wide open. I am interested in so many aspects of physics, chemistry and technology that I do not yet know which direction I want to pursue.  

A career in research is one option, but working for a technology company or as a consultant could be equally appealing. Whatever path I choose, I hope that my future workplace is one where I can constantly learn new things and explore phenomena in the world. 

To all those who want to study STEM subjects, please choose a field or project that genuinely interests and inspires you.  

Also, make yourself visible in the field. In order for individuals and humankind to make the most of new innovations, it is necessary for people from all backgrounds to pursue STEM.