According to UNESCO, Women make up roughly 35% of the global STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) workforce; however, the gender gap in leadership in these fields is very wide, with often less than 10% women in leadership roles.
The Women in STEM 2026 Highlights list spotlights 10 women across all aspects of STEM, including engineering, biotechnology, chemistry, physics and genetics. The following is intended to highlight these women and their accomplishments.
Physics
The list includes two PhD scientists in physics: Anne L’Huillier, who recently won the Nobel Prize in physics for her work producing ultra-short light pulses to measure molecular processes, and Kersten Perez, an astrophysicist studying dark matter interactions using cosmic particles.
Physics in particular has had some of the lowest rates of women entering the field.
Biotechnology
The Women in STEM 2026 Highlights three PhD scientists who have all founded biotechnology companies, IPO’d these companies, ran them in the public markets and developed drugs to treat a wide range of diseases.
Sharon Mates founded Intracellular Therapies and ran the company for over 20 years, gaining approval of novel antipsychotic drug, CAPLYTA. She didn’t stop there – she is now on the Boards of several other biotech companies.
Shoshana Shendelman founded Applied Therapeutics and brought drugs through late-stage development for rare diseases and heart failure. She then went on to lead several other private companies through key inflection points, and is currently the CEO of Cyana Therapeutics, an oncology company developing drugs to treat solid tumours.
Rachel Haurwitz is a co-founder of Caribou Biosciences (alongside Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna) and has run the company for 10 years, navigating strategy and adapting as needed to through challenging biotech capital markets.
Chemistry
Michelle C. Chang and Zhenan Bao are featured chemists, and their achievements display the broad range of utility and applicability of advancements in chemistry.
Chang developed synthetic methods to advance the preparation of halogenated natural products of medical importance and biomass conversion for energy and environmental science. Her findings are being applied broadly from the development of biofuels to pharmaceuticals.
Bao discovered nano confinement effect of conjugated polymers in polymer blends, which established the fundamental foundation for skin-inspired electronic materials and devices. Her work has resulted in new materials and device solutions for soft robotics, wearable and implantable electronics.
Genetics
Nancy Wexler is in a category of her own, highlighting seminal achievements in genetics. She is best known for her involvement in the discovery of the gene that causes Huntington’s Disease, a fatal disease which took the lives of several of Wexler’s family members. She led a research team into a remote part of Venezuela, and the samples her team collected were instrumental in locating the gene that causes Huntington’s and creating a genetic test. Wexler currently holds or has held numerous public policy positions and received awards for scientific research and public service.
Engineering
The Women in STEM 2026 Highlights list includes two engineers, both of whom are also NASA astronauts.
Jasmin Moghbeli earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering with information technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and then earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
Christina Koch earned her Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and physics and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University. Both Moghbeli and Koch have already had NASA careers, participating in multiple prestigious missions to space. For girls who plan careers in engineering or space exploration, these two women provide a tangible future to look towards.
Society often subtly labels math and science as “male” fields; while girls often perform well in early grades, they lose confidence in their abilities in secondary school. Few visible female role models in STEM results in girls struggling to picture themselves in those roles. The Women in STEM 2026 Highlights list is intended to provide young women with a sampling of what is possible for women in STEM, so that they can envision themselves in such roles.
For more information visit: https://www.womeninstemhighlights.com/
