No Space in Space

(Ummmm…hello, Elon Musk!) By Bryn Flanigan.

I want to go to space. Probably not words you are used to hearing from a girl, but I do. And, to be clear, I am not your typical STEM girl. I am not a master coder, math is challenging for me and science used to just be something I had to take. But in my eighth-grade science class, I discovered planets and stars and supernovas, all of these things that slightly terrified me. Luckily, my fascination with the unknown (and love of a good challenge) quickly overshadowed my fear and I was hooked.

I immediately sought out any program that would indulge my interest in science and, more importantly, shed some light on what a career in space might look like. I attended GESTEM (Girls Exploring Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) where students pick three workshops to attend throughout the day featuring different fields in STEM. One workshop that I attended explored the possibility of extraterrestrial life, which was really exciting to me. I also participated in a computer coding program through my local library where I competed with a team to build the best website after being taught basic coding skills. These programs gave me hands-on experience, taught me that I could develop the skills necessary to succeed in the field of science, and inspired me to explore STEM further.

However, frustratingly, even with all of these STEM programs focused on girls, I did not see any space in space for me. I did not see how, as a young woman, I could make a career in a field that was incredibly exciting to me. In the last 5 years, there has been a significant effort to get girls into STEM. However, that has focused namely on the T — leaving the other letters (and girls interested in those fields) to fend for themselves. Well-meaning people have one idea of what a STEM girl’s career looks like, and it usually includes Silicon Valley. The tech industry has somewhat stolen the STEM spotlight these days and I think we need to take it back.

If girls had access to programs like the ones I described above, but focused on space exploration, that would have a huge impact. (Ummmm…hello, Elon Musk!) It would give girls the confidence they need to seek out challenging (and empowering) careers. And hopefully with more girls moving into the STEM professions, the lack of gender equality and rampant misogyny especially in places like Silicon Valley would slowly recalibrate. Meaning, things like the manifesto written by a Google engineer who suggested that women were biologically unfit to be employed in a high-stress, high-status position will be a thing of the past. Because, otherwise, how is someone like me who wants to achieve precisely what I’m being told I am inherently incapable of — to succeed in a high-stress, high-status job such as an astronaut going to find her space? Well, as I said at the beginning, I like a good challenge.

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