Influential Women in STEM: Quotes

 

In honor of Women’s History Month, NITRD is celebrating the contributions and wise words that women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have given us over time. Check this webpage for the daily quote or our Twitter handle @NITRDgov. These are inspiring and empowering quotes made by women who have brought great achievements to society.

 

Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.

~ Mae Jemison, first African American woman astronaut in space

 

Life need not be easy, provided only that it is not empty.

~ Lise Meitner, physicist who discovered nuclear fission

 

Science is not a boy’s game, it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game.

~ Nichelle Nichols, “Lt. Uhura” on Star Trek and NASA Ambassador

 

We ignore public understanding of science at our peril.

~ Eugenie Clark, Marine scientist and founder of Mote Marine Lab

 

The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.

~ Amelia Earhart

 

All sorts of things can happen when you’re open to new ideas and playing around with things.

~ Stephanie Kwolek, the chemist who invented Kevlar

 

If you know you are on the right track, if you have this inner knowledge, then nobody can turn you off… no matter what they say.

~ Barbara McClintock, a cytogeneticist & Nobel Laureate

 

…fortitude is key. More than anything, be consistent. Go at it. Go at it. Go at it. When you succeed, don’t forget the responsibility of making someone else succeed with you.

~ Antonia Novello, former U.S. Surgeon General

 

I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.

~ Marie Curie, first woman to win a Nobel Prize & the only person to win the Nobel in two different sciences – chemistry and physics!

 

Certain people discouraged me, saying [science] was not a good career for women. That pushed me even more to persevere.

~ Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, 2008 Nobel Laureate for Physiology/Medicine

 

Let us choose for ourselves our path in life, and let us try to strew that path with flowers.

~ Emilie du Chatelet, mathematician and physicist

 

This job is a great scientific adventure. But it’s also a great human adventure. Mankind has made giant steps forward. However, what we know is really very, very little compared to what we still have to know.

~ Fabiola Gianotti, Higgs boson physicist

 

When I was a kid we’d rent Indiana Jones movies on VHS tapes. It inspired a whole generation of scholars because we saw the excitement, and the passion, and the drama.

~ Sarah Parcak, American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and remote sensing expert

 

An inclusive workforce provides a rich set of perspectives that enable innovation and creative discovery … So I challenge you with this question: What will you do today to empower a co-worker, neighbor, relative, or friend?

~ Kamie Roberts, Director of NITRD NCO

 

I became an astronomer because I could not imagine living on Earth and not trying to understand how the Universe works.

~ Vera Rubin, Astronomer

 

…her (Vera Rubin) struggle inspired me to keep pushing, do what I love and really believe that something will work out. And now, I’m a scientist at NASA.

~ Regina Caputo, Astrophysicist