Meet Katharina, A Young Female Biomedical Engineer

“Women represent 50% of the population and capacity for innovation in the United States, but they represent only 24% of the STEM workforce.” (Association for Women in Science)

Women continue to be underrepresented in career areas in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).  (See Carrie’s 12/29/12 blog post.) As a former college admissions officer and administrator at two research universities, I met high school students who represented proven academic talent as well as some of the best examples of intellectual potential at the national and international level.  I was consistently interested in encouraging young women to think about undergraduate majors in science and engineering, as women continue to be underrepresented in these fields as both students and professionals.

Several years ago, during a visit to International Academy, an International Baccalaureate programme high school in Michigan, I met Katharina Maisel, a brilliant and promising young scientist. Katharina and I have remained in contact as her science and engineering career continues at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.  (Johns Hopkins University is also a summer program college partner with the Joyce Ivy Foundation.)

I invited Katharina to share her thoughts about the importance of women as innovators in the fields of science and engineering. Her thoughts follow:

If you had asked me in high school what I will be doing ten years from now, I would have never guessed that I would end up as a Biomedical Engineering PhD student. I always associated engineering with the automotive industry but felt a strong desire to help people more directly. I thought about becoming a doctor but when I heard my brother describe cutting open a cadaver in anatomy class, I thought maybe this isn’t for me.  My math and physics abilities finally led me to engineering and I was fortunate enough to have Sherryl introduce me to Biomedical Engineering. Knowing that I could combine my interest in human health with math and physics made it so much easier for me to venture into the world of engineering. I quickly decided to major in Materials Science and Engineering to get a foundation in materials research with the plan to move onto my current position – obtaining a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. 

After choosing my major, my biggest worry was the lack of women engineers. I came to find out that this was not something to worry about at all. Probably because there are so few of us, our community is very tight knit and we all support each other.  It was not very hard to make female friends in science and engineering. Finding female mentors, whether they are upper class women, graduate students, or professors, can be especially inspiring. From my experience, women in the STEM communities tend to approach things differently, leading us to be very valuable assets in forming new ideas and collaborations. If you are worried about having a family and a career – there are plenty of women who have done both successfully. So to all of the young women out there, who are unsure of whether or not to step out into the STEM world, be brave and follow your interests. You have nothing to be afraid of!