Every March we celebrate Women’s History Month. We’ve mainly heard of historical figures such as Maya Angelou, Marie Curie and Rosa Parks who made such a large impact on the world in the name of women. However, there are many women making groundbreaking history today. With recent technology, we are able to watch women make an impact on live television, where they were previously barred. For example, Kamala Harris made her mark as the first woman elected as Vice President of the United States.
Most of the women we are aware of are already quite famous or have had their names mentioned across the world, but here are some women who are making history that may not be receiving as much publicity.
- Gitanjali rao
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At just 15 years old, Rao already has many titles under her belt. As an engineer, scientist, author and inventor, she developed a device that could send water quality levels through Bluetooth, alerting if there’s any lead or quality diminishing factors in water. Her invention could save lives to ensure people’s ability to drink clean. She also helped develop a device that may detect opioid addiction in its early stages and an app called Kindly that combats cyberbullying.
- Kathrin Jansen
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With the COVID-19 pandemic raging on, vaccines are administered left and right. Jansen is the woman behind the Pfizer vaccine. As head of Pfizer’s Vaccine Research and Development team, she released the vaccine which has been administered to about 329 million people worldwide. Her work also helped create the HPV vaccine 20 years ago as well as helped develop the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.
- Reshma saujani
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Saujani is a lawyer and politician who founded a non-profit organization called Girls Who Code. The organization provides workshops and classes concerning science, mathematics and other male-dominated fields. Girls Who Code is meant to close the gender gap commonly based in STEM fields, increasing the number of women in science and computer-based fields.
- Whitney Wolfe Herd
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With the world consumed by technology, dating apps have gained precedence. Wolfe Herd originally worked at Tinder, however with growing sexual harassment, she decided to leave and co-create Bumble, a dating app where women could message first in order to change the standard for online dating. She also was named the world’s youngest self-made women billionaire. The idea of women changing the standard of their social lives also helped inspire Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz, which are meant to inspire women to take control of their social lives including friendships and business deals.
- Jessica Watkins
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Watkins is the first Black woman to be assigned to the International Space Station on a mission. Later in 2022, Watkins will orbit earth photographing and conducting research on geological changes. She will also partake in investigating the effects that spaceflight has on humans in a period of six months along with other earth and space science projects. She also participated in NEEMO 23, the first all-female team to test certain technologies on the seafloor for lunar exploration.
Despite the holiday being officially claimed in the 1980s, women from all throughout history are being honored in the month of March. This Women’s History Month, we celebrate billions of women across the globe who have helped make a change for the better in society. These are just five of the hundreds of thousands of women making an impact in the world, and there will be more to come.
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it she stands up for all women.”
-Maya Angelou