Meet Our 44 STEM Gems
“Fear of something is not knowing it. If you have an interest in a specific area, just research or practice it. The fear will go away[.]”
“Find mentors who can support you… It means being proactive. You’re not expected to know how to do it all yourself. None of us were born with all this knowledge.”
“There has never been a better time for young women to enter the field of economics. Google, Facebook, eBay, Pandora, Uber, Instagram, Microsoft, Coursera — all of these firms, as well as the latest start-up firms, need economists.”
“I would much rather build something and interact with it than philosophize about it.”
“Try, try, try, and if you fail, try again. And if you fail, try again.”
“If you’re going to be a scientist, you have to challenge the norm.”
“My work is somewhere between solving a crossword puzzle and making a painting. It’s about pure logic and pure aesthetics.”
“I’ve always thought of myself as an interdisciplinary person. It’s a great career path for people who have many interests.”
“Don’t let fear keep you from doing anything. Face your fears.”
“My reward isn’t money. You can’t compensate for that magic moment when you say ‘Aha’ and you find the answer.”
“When you find something that really resonates with you, something that makes you stay up all night thinking about it, that’s when you know you’ve found the right path for you.”
“Read books about everyday people who decided they wanted to be part of something larger than themselves.”
“Be a risk taker. Never be afraid to try something new, and be as stubborn as a bull. Laboratory breakthroughs are never made by being cautious.”
“A lot of the very best scientists and other STEM leaders are people who have turned something they’re obsessed with into a career.”
“Some will be surprised to see you at the table but you can’t allow that to intimidate you. Turn it into an opportunity to engage and instruct. Prove them wrong.”
“Once I found out math had the power and potential to address the world’s most pressing problems, it made me vigorously pursue a career in math.”
“I loved to go to the lab in the mornings and check the results of my experiments.”
“Half the kids in the world don’t have electricity at home. Eighty percent of the schools that we’re going into don’t have electricity. So we had to design a laptop that was also the infrastructure.”
“It’s not an easy thing to have it all. But you have to follow your gut. If you want it, you can do it.”
“If there is a subject that sparks your curiosity and your imagination, follow it and see where it takes you. There will always be people who think you can’t do something. You don’t have to believe them.”
“I asked a lot of questions. Maybe my peers thought I was dumb, but I didn’t care. There is no question in math that’s too stupid to ask.”
“Have integrity. Stay on top of technology. Once you’ve
got your degree, it’s only the beginning.”
got your degree, it’s only the beginning.”
“That single day made me want to go into engineering. Had I not gone to that, I don’t think I would have known what engineering was. This is why I believe so much in the power of exposure.”
“I remember them looking at me and thinking that I was young and inept. They totally underestimated me. But it motivated me and turned up my juices to where I was like ‘I’ll prove you wrong.’”
“I was interested in doing it, there was an opportunity, so I just did it.”
“Think big.”
“I have such a visceral reaction to expectations that limit my potential; I react by proving that I can.”
“Find out what you want, work hard for it and be patient. Hard work is essential. You will find mentors… Ask them for help and advice. Surround yourself with people who are better than you are.”
“Work hard and network as much as you possibly can. I don’t buy into gender roles or gender stereotypes and don’t think that women are inherently more instinctual or smarter or that men are better negotiators. We are different but equal.”
“Don’t try to copy someone else’s style. Be who you are. That is what you will always be best at doing.”
“I went from being the little girl handing my dad tools while he was under the car to being the one under the car. I wanted to know more about combustion because, well, that’s what makes cars work.”
“My mother and father allowed me to pursue every dream, unfettered, regardless of whether they understood anything I was doing.”
“Math is like a sport — the more you use your muscles, the better you get at it.”
“Overcome your fears by gaining experience and practice.”
“Be extremely ambitious. People should learn to create — not just consume — things on the web. Even if you never actually launch a website, knowing that you can is empowering.”
“…When I’m old and looking back on my life, I will feel that I did the coolest thing anyone could ever possibly do with their life.”
“Using science, tech and math, you have the tools to change the world.”
“If people learn more about physics and are aware of it, then they won’t be so afraid of it.”
“Find a voice, which requires buckling down and really getting to know yourself, and trust yourself.”
“My father told me that I should study math even though it was hard, because it’s the hard things we should tackle in life. That made sense to me.”
“Whether it’s in Mechanical Engineering 101 in college or in their third-grade science class, girls should never question their value, ability or contribution.”
“I always enjoyed building things. I always had a project that involved creating something.”
“Math is something that you get better at by practicing and doing more and by hard work. It’s not a matter of having a math brain or not having a math brain. It’s not as if you can be a math person or not a math person. It’s something that by working at and by practicing, you will get better at. The ‘I’m not so good at it’ excuse is a statement about how much work you’ve put in.”
“I hit a wall in high school. Math was taught in a way that was hard for me to learn it — very linearly, and I learn holistically.”
Women need role models and they need mentors. Women who are successful should coach other women. When you have people like that as a good example to other women, change happens.
IBM Venture Capital Director Deborah Magid