#ScienceGrrl Speed Mentoring: Who championed you?

How do you go about inspiring women in science, technology, engineering and maths? Well one option is to hold a speed mentoring event with twenty women at the top of their field. And yes, that is exactly what we did.

Last night, the What I See team joined forces with our friends and partners ScienceGrrl and The Girls’ Network. We invited members of ScienceGrrl – who are themselves inspirational mentors to the younger generation – to take part in a bit of mentorship themselves. We wanted to highlight the importance of women reaching out to others at all levels of their career – and so we even asked the mentors themselves to share their STEM story as well.

Mentors and mentees gathered in an office of glass windows, to be inspired by women who have shattered the glass ceiling (…see what we did there?) Women from varied STEM careers and industries – from our own founder Edwina Dunn (Starcount), to Katherine Mathieson (British Science Association), Jan Atkinson (UCL), Katherine Smith (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and many more  – shared what it takes to succeed and who championed them along the way.

Check out their STEM stories below, and share your own with us on Twitter at @whatiseeproject or on the #sciencegrrl hashtag. You can find more photos of the event on our Flickr page.