the equality pursuit

Letter from the Editors

letter by the Editors of The Equality Pursuit

Read the letter from the editors of The Equality Pursuit

Dear Readers,

It is an absolute pleasure to welcome you to the inaugural issue of The Equality Pursuit — a magazine launched by the After iGEM Women in STEM (WiSTEM) Initiative. The title adopted is our enthusiastic contribution in ensuring every individual has an equal opportunity in every situation, notably women's equality in STEM.

Synthetic biology is considered young in the STEM field; we hope the template of synbio as engineering will make a change as the ambitions are delivered equally in gender. Women are no longer a minority in STEM professions, and synthetic biologists are not defined based on gender. Through our magazine, which highlights various forms of creative expression by all those who inspire and are inspired, we hope to celebrate those who have paved the way for gender equality in STEM and bring certain issues of gender disparities in the STEM field to light.

Our two articles, Gender Gap: Science and Culture Connection and Democratization of Women in STEM Initiatives each dissect the lack of female involvement in STEM fields and the role of culture in it.

The article written by the Data team features the results of a mini-campaign aimed at quantifying female participation in founding biotechnology or synthetic biology startups.

Our written interviews, featuring Dr. Carmen Verissima Ferreira-Halder, tenured Professor at UNICAMP- Brazil, and Dr. Elena Brevnova, Senior Director of Strain Engineering at Ginkgo Bioworks bring to light the challenges and accomplishments of women in STEM first-hand. Apart from the team, Pinays can STEM, a Women in STEM organization based in the Philippines, also contributed to featuring the articles of local support in addressing the gender gap in STEM.

As we move forward, we are grateful for every single one of our contributors, readers, and supporters, for their input and enthusiasm, and we can’t wait to hear your stories and amplify your voices.

Cheers,
2021 WiSTEM Magazine Project Team