Our Science Corps fellow, Swastika Issar, has been working on an empowering interview series, focusing on Filipina women in STEM: their lives, careers, and experiences. As we kick off the series, here are a few words from Swastika about her inspiration in creating the series. 

“When I first began teaching at the Central Visayan Institute Foundation in Bohol, interacting with my shy high school students during our research methods class proved challenging. To encourage conversation in the classroom, I custom-designed ‘Science is for Everyone’ stamps for the students’ workbooks and would begin class with an anecdote about my life as a scientist, before diving into our coursework.

Getting my students to open up about their own career interests allowed me to introduce one-on-one counseling sessions for those interested in scientific careers. During these sessions, many of my female students expressed uncertainty about their career prospects. This prompted me to get in touch with Filipino women who are pursuing STEM careers and talk to them about their decisions and career trajectories. These interactions have come together in the ‘Science-Corps Filipinas in STEM Series’, which highlights the journeys, wins and struggles of Filipino women in STEM fields through short interviews.”

Check out this incredible series every second Tuesday, beginning May 30th.