You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

Hey everybody, Emily Quang here.

So the academic year is winding down in the US.

And it's been a rough year for women who work in academic science, engineering, and medicine.

I mean, before the pandemic even began, it was clear there were generally more men in STEM

than women.

And that stemmed with two M's, by the way, so science, technology, engineering, math,

and medicine.

Representation in these fields was even lower for women of color, facing racial discrimination

on top of gender discrimination.

Optomologist Dr. Eve Higginbothum faced it in her career too.

Not being asked to present at a national meeting, not having access to a particular sponsor

who could help me gain access to major appointments and committees, you know, having challenges

of getting publications done, you know, and juggling with a number of the social stressors

that as a woman of color, you often do experience.

Eve is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania and the Vice Dean

for Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity at Penn Medicine.

And I'm a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics.

And she says when there's a family emergency or disaster, it's that much harder for women

in STEM.

Her career was affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Well, I'm from New Orleans and during Katrina, my parents who were in their 90s at the time

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