Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Isla Stevens, who will now regale us with merry tales of Friday's first ever ScienceGrrl AGM. Over to you, Isla!
Last Friday I was lucky enough to be
able to fit in a trip to London for the first ever ScienceGrrl AGM –
calendars, tote bags and posters everywhere. It was great to see a
few familiar friends from the consultation evening at the end of the
year, as well as meet some fantastic new faces – it’s not every
day you get to chat to someone who spends their workdays firing lasers.
Having been involved in the
consultation evening and subsequently as a social media minion under
the guidance of Anna Zecharia (seen the tumblr yet? Why not?) I’m also lucky
enough to now have membership of ScienceGrrl, which meant I was able
to vote on the motions being raised. It was a strange and wonderful
feeling, realising that I had I say in where we would go next – and
realising that I was along for the journey as well.
Stand
back, we’re going to try science.
The mood at the AGM was fantastic –
there was no need for icebreakers or introductions, and there was a
great variety of people there, from all ages and career backgrounds,
networking delightedly and having a good laugh as they did so. It was
somewhat humbling to realise that just eight months ago, none of this
existed. Eight months later, ScienceGrrl has calendars around the globe (including a few winging their way to my old High School), and
a far-reaching network with a vision. They are changing the lives of
women in STEM, little by little – they’ve certainly already had a
positive effect on mine. It’s easy to feel isolated, I think, when
you’re working or studying in a field in which you are a minority,
and the AGM was vastly comforting in that sense. It made me realise
that we are all of us passionate about the same things – the same
vision:
“A world where access to a
fulfilling STEM career is decoupled from gender.”
And the same mission:
“To celebrate and promote STEM
careers by building and strengthening a network of people who are
passionate about passing on their love of stem to the next
generation”.
It’s safe to say
ScienceGrrl is already on task. The network is already there, and
it’s only getting bigger. Every day I see new ideas and
collaborations popping up on my Twitter feed – the usual suspects
are generally in there somewhere, keep an eye out for our esteemed
director, Heather Williams, the indefatigable Faisal Khan, head of
science at The Market Bosworth School, or Fran Scott, science
translator extraordinaire.
Plotting
in the pub?
There are plans for a dedicated online
forum with regional chapters to establish a network of support based
right across the country. There are finalised events already marked
in the (wonderful shiny ScienceGrrl) calendars – if you’re in the
Manchester area check out the afternoon of mathematical magic andelectronics, hosted by ScienceGrrl in collaboration with theManchester Girl Geeks to mark International Women’s Day. We’ll be
working with schools, being unswervingly positive in our conversations with policy makers,
and launching new projects such as interactive science workshops and
a work experience network, as well as sending a team of students from
Tower Hamlets to Mission Discovery 2013 with some of the calendar
proceeds.
ScienceGrrl is young. But in eight
short months we’ve gone from strength to strength, from a mildly
irritated twitter conversation about That Video (Grr) to a respected
grassroots organisation with a plan. The next year will both be
exciting and a learning curve for all involved. However the
overwhelming feeling I took away from the AGM – and I’m fairly
sure it wasn’t just me – was a sense of cheerful optimism. I for
one believe ScienceGrrl and friends are more than ready for any
challenges the next year will throw at us, and I feel privileged to
be involved.