On October 17, 2024, the Female Career Days 2024 started with a kick-off event. Young female scientists met in a place that may be unusual for science: the OLi Lichtspiele Magdeburg; an old cinema for an afternoon/evening event.
It all started with a short presentation on „The Matilda Effect“ by Dr. Juliane Handschuh. If you have never hreard about this effect: It is a very interesting speculated bias against acknowledging the achievements of women scientists. Their work is attributed to their male colleagues. Of course, it is not true for every female scientist. However, there are some striking examples. One of the best known examples is probably Lise Meitner. She lived from 1878 til 1968 and was an Austrian-Swedish physicist, who laid the theoretical foundation for nuclear fission, and she even coined the term. While the chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann showed in 1938 that a fission reaction had taken place, it was Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch, who explained it theoretically a year later. In the end, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to Otto Hahn as the sole recipient in 1944. Lise Meitner was not recognized. Of course, we cannot be sure, whether she was left out because she was a woman or because of her jewish heritage.
This initial presentation on the Mathilda Effect gave a good start for what was to come: The film screening of “Hidden Figures“!
Hidden Figures is a biographical movie based on the 2016 non-fiction book of the same name written by Margot Lee Shetterly. In the center of attention are three female African-American mathematicians, namely Katherine Goble Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) as well as Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe). These women worked at NASA during the time of the Space Race. The women worked at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, as so-called „computers“. They calculated complex problems for the flights into space.
Our screening was a success and the movie very well received!
Afterwards a discussion develeoped on women in science and the obstacles they have encountered moderated by Dr. Juliane Handschuh.
The organizors would like to thank Dr. Handschuh for her valueable contribution as well as all interested participants! This event was only the beginning of a series of further events to come.