Now that we are almost done with our interviews, a major issue we are having is diversity. So far, all of our interviewees have been white, with one Hispanic woman. I have contacted a Muslim woman, a black girl, and an organization for LGBTQ+ people in S.T.E.M. It looks as if the first two will be possible, although the interviews themselves may take place during the school year. If so, definitely by the end of September. Well, our interviews are 90% done, I would say. It has been a very interesting experience. We did have to give up the global aspect of the project and focus on the United States. However, the Hispanic woman we interviewed gave us some fascinating insight on the parallels between the States and Argentina. Diversity is something that is extremely important to me, and an aspect I am unwilling to sacrifice. Unfortunately, the stereotype of Asian women in S.T.E.M. is making it even harder to find someone of that demographic, because there are no organizations dedicated to that group. I really hope we can increase our diversity.
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I found it so cool that some of the women we interviewed gave us cool books and other fun presents to take home with us. I (Caroline) found it especially fun to receive textbooks, comics, and books on things I am truly interested in such as Astronomy and Earth Climate! When I went to NASA to interview Dr. Claire Parkinson, I also took a tour of the place where the Hubble Spacecraft was built! How cool! After I was done, Dr. Parkinson gave me 2 of her very own comics(that she was in), 3 NASA stickers, and 5 posters which are currently hanging on the wall in my room. When Annie and I interviewed Sethanne Howard she also gave us a copy of her book, The Hidden Giants, about women in STEM! I just found it incredibly cool that these women were so generous and kind to us.
During my time in the United Kingdom and Ireland, it has been very challenging communicating with Caroline. We had to find opportunities with good wifi to FaceTime and use a different number to iMessage with. Luckily, I will be back soon. July has been a particularly trying month for our project, as we have both been so busy. Once August comes, we will be in over drive with all of the interviews we have scheduled. I am very excited to get back home and really get this documentary in gear.
A few weeks ago, Caroline and I met up and called multiple different organizations in the DELMARVA and D.C. areas. We got a hold of a few of them and made some solid leads for potential interviewees. Afterwards, I attended a church function where I met five possible candidates! Since then, two have proved to be reliable. I am currently in contact with Karen Royer, who had a plethora of stories regarding sexism in S.T.E.M. to discuss at the networking event. My pastor also informed me that she is friends with the pastor of none other than Katherine Johnson, the woman from "Hidden Figures." Currently, I am working on scheduling an interview with this famous feminist. In addition, I did a lot of networking at a conference I attended in D.C. with the A.C.L.U. I met one girl in particular, Stephanie, who started a Girls who Code group at her school and has done a lot of work with the S.T.E.M gap and the A.C.L.U. I am especially excited to talk to her about her work with womanism, a topic I want to know more about. Today, Caroline and I have our first interview. It's one of Caroline's contacts, so I don't know a lot about her but I can't wait to find out. Going forward, I'm really hoping to find some more diversity- especially a trans woman.
Hello! Annie here. Caroline and I are going to be updating this every few weeks or so to discuss the progression of our project- a documentary about women in S.T.E.M.
The meeting went really well. We partnered with Katie and Maggie's group. They are trying to implement composting at our school, which is pretty lit. They were really helpful with giving us some ideas for our project. The main thing we are concerned about is getting interviews, especially on a global scale. Krall and I scheduled a meeting on Father's Day to try to plan when we are going to conduct interviews and contact all the organizations. Many of them will probably be closed on Sunday though, so we will have to divide the work for future days. I am pretty excited but a little nervous. Okay, that's all for now. I hope this works out. I love my fans!!!! |
AuthorsCaroline and Annie |