 Stephanie Choi is an esteemed senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst pursuing a double major in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Psychology (Neuroscience track) with a minor in Art History. She is also on a Pre-Medical track in the Commonwealth Honors College and working on her thesis while applying for M.D. Ph.D programs. Currently, she is conducting research in a food science lab that focuses on testing the efficiencies and effectiveness of various natural compounds that could potentially prevent the spread of diseases that have no available drugs that already do so such as Hepatitis. Stephanie’s ambition and determination in her research comes from her life long journey as a female trying to make her place in the STEM field. Coming from Hong Kong, she had always been interested in medicine and as many others started out with the simple statement- “I just knew I wanted to help people and save lives.”. So naturally, she branched towards science, but it wasn’t until the summer after her sophomore year of college at her research fellowship at UMass Medical School that she really became inspired to pursue higher research. But this is also when she began to experience the stigmas and stereotypes of women in STEM for the first time. “Initially, I had this feeling that people were babying me, that I don’t know as much as my male counterparts which made me feel different although there should be no differences in our capabilities and abilities to do research. I feel like women don’t get praised as much for their success and when we do achieve a great success, they don’t see it as important as we do. Women are often given smaller tasks because, again, they don’t think we are as capable. I think this is partly because our presence is perceived to be less important in some way than our male counterparts.” Despite this, Stephanie has certainly achieved great success so far and gave advice to actively reach out and connect with other researchers to help gain ground in the STEM field. Although, she notes that it can be difficult and intimidating to be in a field where the most successful and influential leaders in STEM seem to be dominated by males. Stephanie talks about the discouragement many women face in STEM. “I have worked in four different labs so far, and they were all under a male boss. I haven’t been able to find a successful female figure to look up to which makes my research career more difficult because I don’t have someone to follow.” But being a female in STEM can be useful and advantageous at times Stephanie says as someone who has been a Teacher’s Assistant in Organic Chemistry and Tutor for many semesters. “First impression, students think that I’m more lenient which could also be due to my personality. But as times goes by, I think being a female gave me more of a benefit because students saw me as more caring, passionate, and understanding. They also saw that a girl could be knowledgable in Organic Chemistry which helps break gender roles. I think that most of the female professors I have known, they are more personable and interactive with students and students’ lives. They’ll talk about important life aspects like stress management, emotional support, and health with their students more than male professors, in my experience.” Stephanie keeps her optimistic attitude and hopes to see the STEM field become more welcoming to women as well as giving women the credit they deserve. “Being a female in STEM, it is unavoidable that you will face obstacles about your gender role and stereotypes as well as doubts in your capabilities being a female. However, it is important to remember that gender should not define who you are and that you choose who the person you want to be. You should strive to be that woman that people can remember as a woman in STEM and not only as a stereotypical woman.” Her biggest piece of advice is “Don’t be afraid to speak up and reach out to people you have never talked to before.”
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