Stemettes endorses Lightning Mary because it tells the story of an inspirational female scientist, Mary Anning, who made numerous discoveries. In the nineteenth century, being female and working class was a tremendous barrier for individuals who wanted to gain an education and develop scientific knowledge. Lightning Mary demonstrates that a scientist can come from any background and that age, gender and money should not stop them.

But though 200 years have passed since Mary Anning was a girl, women are still not proportionally represented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths fields, collectively known as STEM subjects. Of the people working in the UK’s STEM industries, just 21% are women.

Stemettes is a social enterprise working across the UK, Ireland and beyond to inspire and support the next generation of girls and women into STEM industries by showing them the amazing women already in STEM via a series of panel events, hackathons, exhibitions, and mentoring schemes.

If you’re a student or school-leaver who would like to find out more about events and schemes near you, check out www.stemettes.org and click on ‘Events’.

If you are a teacher, parent or work with young people, please email schools@stemettes.org to find out more about school trips, clubs and visits.

You can also see what Stemettes is getting up to here:

twitter.com/Stemettes

twitter.com/StudentStem