News

Education is powerful — it's a means to inciting progress in the world, empowering individuals and transforming lives. Education's role in facilitating positive change is a major theme in Texas Computer Science student Dora Gurfinkel's life. She's so aware of it, in fact, that she is using her education to elicit real change within the university while paying homage to her family's unique history.

We in the College of Natural Sciences have launched World Changers, a new initiative that aims to celebrate a very special type of human in history: the scientist or mathematician who charted a path forward in which others could follow. 

In recent weeks, a pair of researchers received two of the biggest prizes in science, the Breakthrough Prize and the Lasker Award. Both women seized the moment to shine a light on something too frequently cast into the shadows—namely that STEM fields need more women and people from underrepresented communities involved and made welcome in their pursuits.

When Samantha Pliego started her freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin in the College of Natural Sciences, things went well. Mostly.

"I did struggle in that first biology class," said Pliego, who is now a sophomore.

The STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math – have real work to do in terms of diversity. Right now, women make up only about 30 percent of the STEM workforce – and people identifying as black or Hispanic make up just 11 percent.

Amid the national debate about the lack of women in science, experts often cite the need for more female role models to inspire a new generation. Today, there are signs that the public face of science is changing. In Austin, among the vanguard are young women scientists.

With recent talk of a "bro culture" in Silicon Valley and accusations of sex discrimination in the technology sector, some in the College of Natural Sciences' Department of Computer Science are taking it upon themselves to build a culture of inclusion.

Today is the 103^rd anniversary of the birth of Lorene Rogers, a notable alumna and scientist who also was the first woman ever to lead a major U.S. university (which just happened to be The University of Texas at Austin)! In honor of her and our year-long campaign celebrating women in science, we are telling the stories of six incredible women scientists and mathematicians with a history right here on the Forty Acres. 

Women in Natural Sciences, a small learning community within the College, has been raising retention rates in science and the academic success rates of its students for years. Now it's looking to the community to help raise support and capacity in the program.

In a recent op-ed appearing in the Dallas Morning News, Psychology Today and the Rio Grande Guardian, Shelley Payne provides evidence that both society and science will benefit by removing barriers that discourage women and people of color from pursuing a path in science, technology, engineering and math. Payne, a professor in molecular biosciences, is also the College of Natural Sciences' Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.