St Margaret’s Celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science

St Margaret’s Celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science

24 February 2023

International Day of Women and Girls in Science recognises the importance of having women scientists in classrooms, laboratories, and boardrooms. St Margaret’s School for Girls fully support the initiative to reject gendered paths of study and to promote the inclusion of even more women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Since 1846, St Margaret’s School for Girls has supported successive generations to explore their interests free from gender stereotype, all with the support of specialist teaching staff and state of the art facilities. In 2022, over a third of St Margaret’s school leavers went on to study a STEM subject at university, reaping the benefits of being known and supported as individuals within a close-knit, yet outward-looking school community.

This year, St Margaret’s joined forces with Techfest and Apache to host an event for local Aberdeen schools to come together and hear from inspiring female scientists and discover the incredibly varied career options in the field of Physics.

Former St Margaret’s pupil and Professor of Particle Physics at The University of Edinburgh, Sinead Farrington, was the headline speaker at the event attended by Primary 6-7 pupils. She spoke of her studies, her role as a professor, and her contribution to the research at The Large Hadron Collider. She shared her passion for physics, emphasising how important it is to have women in the field.

Second speaker, Alison McLure, also shared her career path in STEM. She discussed her role as the Head of Scotland at the Institute of Physics (IOP). Within this role her focus is to ensure that the IOP’s programmes in Scotland are open to all, so that everyone can benefit from the opportunities that exist in physics.

In addition to the talks, pupils took part in some practical workshops based around important ideas in physics, including ‘Isaac’s Big Idea’, ‘Apollo 7 Challenge’, and ‘TechFest Mobile Planetarium’.

St Margaret’s extends its thanks to TechFest and Apache Corporation for their support in organising such a fantastic event.

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