The STEMettes STEAM across the ladies bridge

The significance of Waterloo Bridge? It is also known as the ladies bridge because in the 1930s around 350 females helped to build it – 350 females who were not credited with its construction.

Unfortunately, uncredited women throughout history are nothing new, and a sad fact is that we will probably never truly know the extent to which women helped the evolution of technology. But one thing for certain is that history won’t be repeating itself. Not when organisations like the STEMettes is championing innovators, old and new, and encouraging fresh generations of women into the industry – helping them to see the opportunities that are open to them, and to understand that there is more than one way into a STEM career.

Speaking on the success of the event, Dr Laura Norton, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at The IET commented to Electronic Specifier: “It’s been truly inspiring to see so many women, children and non-binary people come together to raise awareness about women in STEM. Watching young people having conversations about the incredible things women have done to change our world for the better is what today is all about. It’s also been about shining a light on the amazing work women did on the rebuild of Waterloo Bridge in the 1930s that was never recognised – today was for them too!”

Co-Founded by Head STEMette, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, the award-winning social enterprise, STEMettes, welcomes girls, young women and non-binary people with open arms into a world of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths), and Monday 13^th February 2023 saw a year of STEMette activities kick-off in London with the march of 240 women across Waterloo Bridge, and ending in a talk at the IET from Anne-Marie to the engineers of the future.

Speaking on how important it is that the government are now encouraging STEM in schools, Anne-Marie commented: "Some good work has been done, but we 100% can do better. That’s why we commissioned a survey with the British Science Association which found that 1 in 3 young people say they haven’t or don’t remember being taught about a woman scientist in the past 2 years."

During their 10-year history the STEMettes have worked with more the 60,000 women and young non-binary people from ages 5 through to 25. It is a community designed to encourage young people to feel more confident in their STEM abilities by fostering a culture of empowerment, encouragement and innovation which challenges stereotypes, and guides future engineers to be better connected to their peers and role models. Indeed, it is a culture that is already happening, with some of the future STEMgineers citing Anne-Marie herself as their role model.

The united front from the STEMettes and the IET are here to change both the way women in STEAM are perceived, recognised and championed, and also how women engineers of the future perceive working in a male-dominated industry. Because once you realise that women have always been role models and innovators, it makes the world a more accessible one, and one that you want to fight for – not only for yourself, but for all the women who came before you.

So, what else do the STEMettes have planned for their 10-year birthday celebrations?

2023 STEMette activities include:

• Hosting a roundtable in London – March
• Celebrating a STEAM festival in Newcastle – April
• Tackling another round table in Newcastle – June
• Seeing the celebrations coming back to London with another STEAM festival – July
• Taking part in a third round table in Birmingham – September
• And lastly, finishing in style with a third and final STEAM festival in Coventry – October