Throughout history, women have come together to prove their value not only to themselves, but also to those around them. They have used their wits, courage, and confidence to get to where they are in today’s society. Although there is still a long way to go in terms of full equality, what many women have accomplished is truly incredible, especially in their respective professional fields.

A particularly impressive group of women have thrived against all odds in business, science, and math fields. These women have broken glass ceilings and forged a path for girls in the future by achieving things not many others have done. 

Among the many women who have excelled in science and technology, there have been a few that stand out. One is Lillian Moller Gilbreth, a psychologist and industrial engineer in the 20th century. She was a management consultant for some major corporations, but on top of that, she had to take care of her twelve kids.  Some of her accomplishments include that she was the first female commencement speaker at the University of California, the first female engineering professor at Purdue, and the first woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Other notable women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) include Katherine Johnson, Augusta Ada King, Radia Perlman, Rebecca Cole, Joan Clarke, Susan Kare, Grace Hopper, Florence Nightingale, Adriana Ocampo, Irene Au, Roberta Bondar, Ginni Rometty, and Barbara McClintock. They all have incredibly rich, inspiring stories that are worth researching.

Since the 1990’s, the number of women in STEM-related fields has continued to increase. In 2009, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), reported that over 140,000 women graduated with STEM degrees. By 2016, that number rose to over 200,000, which is a 43% increase in just seven years.

With so many women thriving in such careers, more opportunities are becoming available to them. Stereotypes are slowly starting to be taken down because of these women proving others wrong. However, there are still some major disparities in the workplace.

Only about about 38% of women that major in computers actually get a job in a computer-related field, and only 24% of engineering majors find employment in their field. Nearly 80% of the healthcare workforce are women, but women only represent 21% of health executives and board members. Only a third of doctors are women. Women are more highly represented in lower-paying fields, such as home healthcare workers, nurses, and specialties like pediatrics.

The relevancy of this is that, no matter how far these women have come, they are still not receiving equal treatment. This applies to women in every profession, including business.

One businesswoman who has found major success in spite of adversity is Erika Nardini. She has become the first female CEO at the company Barstool Sports. Barstool is known for being controversial and has been criticized for its focus on a male lifestyle full of athletics and partying, but that didn’t stop Nardini from rising to the top. 

Before working at Barstool, Nardini was the President and Chief Revenue Officer at Bkstg. Bkstg is a music platform that creates direct relationships between an artist and his or her fan. Nardini was responsible for every part of the company, including brand positioning, programming, revenue, and partnerships.

Even earlier in her career, Nardini worked at AOL when it was the leading digital content and technology platform and did all their go-to-market activities. She helped to design their advertisements and marketing efforts. 

A number of industries show trends of a growing female workforce, but finance, engineering, and technology still tend to be strongly male-dominated. Because jobs in these fields are typically high-paying and fast-growing, having more women in these professions would be a huge step in the right direction.

The women pioneering these fields strong-minded and determined. For as much as they have accomplished, the battle for equal pay, respect, equality is nowhere near over. Their accomplishments have not gone unnoticed and are the reason that so many young girls have the opportunities to do whatever they want to do. 

At the end of the day, Beyoncé put it best– girls run the world.