SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A brand new exhibit at Balboa Park is highlighting the ladies who formed science, know-how, engineering, and math in San Diego and past.
The Women in STEM exhibit is now open at the San Diego History Center, celebrating the contributions of girls who not solely modified San Diego but in addition made an enduring impression on the world.
“We decided to tell an accurate history of San Diego where everyone saw themselves,” stated Melissa Jones, the general public packages supervisor at the San Diego History Center.
The exhibit begins at the STEM Pioneers Wall, the place guests can find out about ladies like Kate Sessions and Belle Benchley.
“She was the first woman to direct any zoo in the world,” Jones stated.
From there, the exhibit strikes via historical past, highlighting ladies throughout the World War II period.
“We wouldn’t have Qualcomm if we didn’t have all this wartime manufacturing and production,” Jones stated.
The exhibit then turns to figures like Dr. Janice Swanson, who remodeled the Nineties by creating the sport “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?” and inventing toys particularly designed for younger women.
“To show that girls just as much as boys can play with these things and be interested in technology,” Jones stated.
The hope was that these toys would encourage women to pursue STEM, as analysis reveals they have a tendency to float away from it over time.
“It’s at that middle school age we start to see girls dropping out of science, even if they’re good at it,” Jones stated.
The exhibit is designed to indicate younger ladies the chances accessible to them, together with the opportunity of going to area. It options Dr. Ellen Ochoa, who grew up in La Mesa and have become the primary Hispanic lady in area.
It additionally highlights figures akin to Dr. Erica Ullman Safire, who exemplifies ladies’s management in medication.
“Women have always been leaders, that they have always been inventors and scientists, and it’s not a surprise or a shock to see women as leaders and bosses in their field,” Jones stated.