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We all need a feel good story

Forbes gave us one yesterday. Mythbusters' response to the question "Who Says Women Can't Do Math And Science?" was to tell some stories of women executives with science degrees who are now leading some of the world's largest companies. And then she used the stories and some of the recent reports to talk about what's up with women and STEM these days. It's an upbeat positive piece and we can all use some of that.

BTW three women were named CEOs of large U.S. companies during the past year-- two mechanical engineers and a computer scientist. Guess if as a woman (and in the case of Xerox CEO Ursala Burns an African American woman), you can make it through Mechanical Engineering (the least diverse of engineering fields) you can make it anywhere.




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Here's another feel good story: chemist Esther Takeuchi to receive the National Medal of Technology (http://www.buffalo.edu/news/10476)


I could really get into this -- Here is another one. Karen Petrou who is profiled in the New York Times' The Boss: Not Just 'That Blind Person'.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/jobs/13boss.html

She has some great quotes:

"I speak to a lot of groups about finance. Years ago, I’d get the reaction, “Oh my, it’s a girl.” Audiences have become more educated over the years, and there are more female executives in finance now. These days, the barrier I encounter is, “Oh my, it’s a girl with a big German shepherd.”

"People don’t see you as you, they see you as “that blind person.” I was lucky not to have to fight that. I was the only female in my classes at M.I.T., so I was already beating back one stereotype. It would have been difficult if not impossible to fight two at once."


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