🌐 The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it. 🚀

In the city of Karnal, Haryana, India, a young girl, Kalpana Chawla, would often gaze at the sky, captivated by the stars in the sky. She would one day turn that childhood wonder into reality, becoming the first woman of Indian origin to travel to space —and inspiring countless dreamers around the world.

Early Life and Education

Kalpana Chawla didn’t grow up in a world that made it easy for girls to dream of space. Born in 1962 in Karnal, India, to a family that had resettled after the Partition, she was surrounded by voices that told her to be practical—to become a teacher, or maybe a doctor. Aerospace engineering wasn’t considered a path for girls. But Kalpana was drawn to the skies. She excelled in school, driven by a quiet determination that set her apart. Refusing to be limited by expectation, she left home to pursue her passion, eventually earning a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering in the United States by 1988. Her story is proof of what early support and exposure to STEM can do—especially for girls bold enough to follow their curiosity, even when the world tells them not to.

NASA Career and Space Missions

Chawla began her career at NASA’s Ames Research Center after earning her Ph.D., focusing on powered-lift computational fluid dynamics. Her expertise and dedication led to her selection as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994.

Her first space mission was STS-87 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997, where she served as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. During this mission, she conducted experiments and was involved in deploying the Spartan satellite.

Chawla’s second mission, STS-107, was a dedicated science and research flight that launched on January 16th, 2003. The crew conducted approximately 80 experiments over 16 days, covering areas such as advanced technology development, life sciences, and materials research.

Legacy She Left Behind

On February 1st, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in the loss of all seven crew members, including Chawla.

However, Chawla’s legacy continues to inspire. She was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Educational institutions, scholarships, and even a Cygnus spacecraft—the S.S. Kalpana Chawla—have been named in her honor, ensuring that her contributions to space exploration and her role as a trailblazer for women in STEM are never forgotten.

Dr. Kalpana Chawla’s journey from a small town in India to the vast expanse of space serves as a testament to the power of dreams and determination. Her story continues to motivate aspiring scientists and engineers around the world.

Kalpana Chawla once said:

“When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.”

At JerseySTEM, we are inspired by stories like Kalpana Chawla’s—stories that remind us of what’s possible when girls are given the tools and encouragement to pursue science. By offering free, hands-on STEM education to middle school girls in underserved communities, JerseySTEM seeks to nurture the next generation of engineers, scientists, and astronauts who will shape our future—regardless of where they come from.

Volunteer with us this fall to help inspire the next generation of innovators and changemakers!

What you can do:

• Volunteer with JerseySTEM to promote STEM equity. Apply through this link to become program instructors: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1E2cWGJG9p0ucJn6U2BQvgkV5ABHz96BSP3Dln4ePp0M/viewform?ts=67a67315&edit_requested=true
• Advocate for inclusive policies and disaggregated data collection in your local schools.
• Mentor a student from an underrepresented AAPI background.
• Support efforts that amplify diverse voices and broaden the scope of who belongs in STEM.

At JerseySTEM, we envision a future where all young people—regardless of race, gender, or zip code—can see themselves in science, technology, engineering, and math. That future starts by telling the full story, and ensuring no community is left behind in the push for equity.

 

Other Reference: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/chawla_kalpana.pdf

🌐 How a Brilliant Physicist From a Small Town in China Changed Science Forever—and Paved the Way for Girls in STEM 🚀

In the early 1900s in Liuhe, a quiet riverside town in China’s Jiangsu Province, a young girl named Chien-Shiung Wu would walk miles to school with a notebook tucked under her arm and a mind full of questions.

Born in 1912 to progressive parents who believed that girls deserved the same education as boys, Wu was raised to think boldly in a world that often told women to stay quiet. She would go on to become one of the greatest experimental physicists of the 20th century—often called “the First Lady of Physics”—though many still don’t know her name.

From Nanjing to Nuclear Physics

After graduating at the top of her class from National Central University in Nanjing, Wu traveled to the United States in 1936. Inspired by Marie Curie, she earned her Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1940—a time when few women, let alone Asian women, were seen in physics labs.

Her expertise soon caught the attention of the Manhattan Project, the secret U.S. government research program during WWII that developed the first nuclear weapons. Wu played a critical role in developing the process of uranium enrichment for the atomic bomb. But her greatest scientific legacy came years later, in the form of a groundbreaking experiment that would shake the foundations of modern physics.

The Wu Experiment—and the Nobel Prize She Didn’t Receive

In 1956, Chien-Shiung Wu was asked to design an experiment that could prove or disprove a bold new theory: that the law of parity, a long-held belief in physics, might not hold true for weak nuclear interactions. It was the kind of idea that made headlines in scientific circles—and the kind of test only someone with Wu’s meticulous skill could carry out.

Her experiment shattered the public’s expectations. It proved definitively that parity was not conserved in weak interactions, overturning a principle scientists had believed for decades. The discovery was so significant that two of her male collaborators, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957.

Wu was not.

The omission would sting for generations to come, but Wu continued on, with grace and brilliance, becoming the first female president of the American Physical Society and later receiving the National Medal of Science and the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics.

“It is shameful that there are so few women in science,” she once said, “There is a misconception in America that women scientists are all dowdy spinsters. This is the fault of men.”
– Chien-Shiung Wu

Why Her Story Still Matters

At JerseySTEM, we work to close the gender and opportunity gap in STEM, especially among middle school girls and underserved youth. Chien-Shiung Wu’s life reminds us of what happens when someone is given a chance.

Even today, women are underrepresented in many areas of science. According to UNESCO, only 33.33% of researchers worldwide are women, and the percentage is even lower in physics. Role models like Wu matter, not just because they made history, but because they give young people permission to imagine themselves doing the same.

Carrying the Torch Forward

Today, Wu’s legacy lives on in classrooms, textbooks, and now, in stories like this. She was a scientist, a pioneer, and a fierce advocate for women in science. And though she may not have received the Nobel Prize, she earned something more enduring: the respect of generations and the power to inspire.

At JerseySTEM, we honor her legacy by making sure every girl who wants to build a robot, run a lab experiment, or ask “why?” gets to do just that.

Volunteer with us this fall to help inspire the next generation of innovators and changemakers!

What you can do:

• Volunteer with JerseySTEM to promote STEM equity. Apply through this link to become program instructors: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1E2cWGJG9p0ucJn6U2BQvgkV5ABHz96BSP3Dln4ePp0M/viewform?ts=67a67315&edit_requested=true
• Advocate for inclusive policies and disaggregated data collection in your local schools.
• Mentor a student from an underrepresented AAPI background.
• Support efforts that amplify diverse voices and broaden the scope of who belongs in STEM.

At JerseySTEM, we envision a future where all young people—regardless of race, gender, or zip code—can see themselves in science, technology, engineering, and math. That future starts by telling the full story, and ensuring no community is left behind in the push for equity.

 

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chien-Shiung-Wu

https://www.epa.gov/radtown/women-radiation-history-chien-shiung-wu

https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/diverse-voices-chien-shiung-wu-chinese-marie-curie

🌐 Breaking the Myth of the “Model Minority” in STEM 🚀

When we talk about equity in STEM education, we often focus on broad racial and ethnic categories. The “AAPI” (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community is frequently viewed as a monolith—one that is overrepresented in science and technology fields. But behind the data lies a more complex and often overlooked reality: significant disparities exist within AAPI subgroups, especially among Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

At JerseySTEM, our mission is to empower middle school girls from underrepresented communities through access to quality STEM education. While our work primarily centers on girls from Black and Hispanic communities, we believe it’s important to spotlight the invisible gaps that exist elsewhere—particularly within a group that is frequently excluded from conversations around educational inequity.

Successes Masked by Aggregation

When viewed collectively, AAPI individuals appear to excel in STEM fields, often outperforming other racial and ethnic groups in educational attainment and career representation. For instance, Indian Americans and Taiwanese Americans have some of the highest rates of college degree attainment, with a significant portion of those degrees in STEM disciplines. According to Pew Research Center, Asian workers make up 13% of those employed in STEM occupations in the U.S.—more than double their 6% share of total employment across all occupations. Their presence is particularly strong in computing, where one-in-five (20%) workers are Asian American. Notably, this overall share of 13% has remained steady since 2016. This success often leads to the perception of AAPI communities as a monolithic “model minority.” However, such aggregation conceals the struggles faced by other subgroups.

The Struggles of Underserved Communities

Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities often face systemic barriers that hinder access to education and career opportunities. For example:

• Southeast Asians: Cambodian, Laotian, and Hmong Americans have college degree attainment rates often below 20%. This stark contrast highlights the socioeconomic and educational barriers these communities face, such as limited access to resources and underfunded schools.
• Pacific Islanders: Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) individuals are significantly underrepresented in STEM fields, reflecting challenges like geographic isolation, lower high school graduation rates, and lack of exposure to STEM opportunities.

These disparities are compounded by factors such as poverty, discrimination, and underrepresentation, which make it difficult for these communities to enter and thrive in STEM fields. According to NPR, individuals like Kao Lee Yang have been deemed ineligible for certain fellowships because the overarching “Asian” category is not considered underrepresented in STEM, thereby overlooking the unique challenges faced by specific subgroups. ​

Diversity Drives Innovation

A diverse STEM workforce isn’t just a matter of fairness—it’s a necessity for innovation. Different perspectives lead to better problem-solving, greater creativity, and groundbreaking discoveries. Addressing the disparities among AAPI subgroups ensures that the full range of talent within these communities can contribute to advancing science and technology.

How JerseySTEM Can Help

At JerseySTEM, we recognize the importance of empowering underserved communities. Our programs focus on bridging gaps in STEM education by:

• Bringing STEM workshops and mentorship programs to underfunded schools.
• Recruiting professionals to volunteer as mentors, providing role models who reflect the diversity of the students we serve.
• Partnering with companies to sponsor initiatives that specifically support underrepresented groups in STEM.

A Call to Action

Disaggregating data is essential to revealing the nuances within the AAPI community and designing targeted interventions. As we celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, let’s commit to uplifting every subgroup, ensuring that all students—regardless of background—have the opportunity to thrive in STEM.

What you can do:

• Volunteer with organizations that promote STEM equity, like JerseySTEM.
• Advocate for inclusive policies and disaggregated data collection in your local schools.
• Mentor a student from an underrepresented AAPI background.
• Support efforts that amplify diverse voices and broaden the scope of who belongs in STEM.

At JerseySTEM, we envision a future where all young people—regardless of race, gender, or zip code—can see themselves in science, technology, engineering, and math. That future starts by telling the full story, and ensuring no community is left behind in the push for equity.