Twins Empowering Women Through STEM

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ChangemakerZ Interviews

4 min readApr 17, 2021

Twins Empowering Women Through STEM — Divya and Sweta Srinivasan twin sisters from Orlando Florida, are the Founders of Girls for Science — Divya and Sweta Srinivasan are twin sisters from Orlando, Florida. They are the Founders of Girls for Science

Divya and Sweta Srinivasan are twin sisters from Orlando, Florida. They are the Founders of Girls for Science, an organization that empowers girls to learn more about and pursue the STEM fields to lead to a gender equal future.

The two started their organization in 2017 through collaborating with another non-profit to conduct a workshop in India. After having the opportunity to interact with and teach girls about disease prevention and the scientific method in India, Divya and Sweta were inspired to begin Girls for Science.

Question 1 : We love what you two did with your recent workshops in India about disease prevention and inventions by women. What was the process of creating those workshops like?

Divya: We wanted to create a presentation that would stay with the students. In order to do that, we put together a PowerPoint and made sure to include a hands-on science project that the students could participate in. We find that whenever students are able to take part in something hands-on, the message that we are trying to deliver sticks more. Sweta and I created a simple PowerPoint with our main points and made sure to deliver our message through the project.

Sweta: We wanted to create a fun and informative presentation to present to the girls. We chose to do an experiment to teach about disease prevention and the proper hand washing technique. For inventions about women, Divya and I decided to make a PowerPoint on everyday inventions that we take for granted that were invented by women. We did this to show that even the simplest inventions have an enormous impact on our everyday life.

Question 2 : What are the biggest lessons that both of you have learned along the way?

Divya: To me, the biggest lesson was to never be afraid of communication. Speaking with adults and explaining what I do can be intimidating. Throughout my time explaining to adults what exactly it is that I do, I have gathered the courage to express myself. I am no longer scared to speak about what I love to others around me!

Sweta: The biggest lesson I learned was how to communicate and stay organized. Now, with a team of over 30 members, communication and organization are everything. Moreover, communicating with adults and other organizations is a huge lesson I have learned. You have to be confident in yourself and your organization to be successful.

Question 3 : How does being teenagers give you guys a different perspective on the gender gap in science than someone that is already in the working field?

Divya: As a teenager, I have never had to directly face the gender gap in terms of work. The idea that there is a gender gap in certain STEM fields does bother me, however. As someone who is going to be entering the professional world in the future, however, I want to make sure that I am being compensated fairly for the work that I will be doing.

Sweta: Being a teenager and seeing that women in the working field experience this gender gap motivates me to want to help with this problem for myself and other girls my age, as we will be entering the working field in the not too distant future.

Question 4 : What are your favourite parts about working on Girls for Science?

Divya: My favourite part about working on Girls for Science is getting to interact with students! Meeting girls in India and getting the opportunity to speak with them is always so much fun. When students tell us that they had fun during workshops, it is always rewarding and makes all of the work we put into the workshops worth it!

Sweta: My favourite part about working on Girls for Science is conducting the workshops and after-school programs. There is something so special about seeing the interest and drive these girls have for the STEM fields. Being able to interact with these girls and learn about their stories and their ambitions in life is such an incredible experience.

Question 5 : How did you guys come up with Girls for Science Environmental?

Divya: One of our team members, Aneesha Nayak, reached out to Sweta and I and gave us the idea! As many people are aware, the climate crisis is a very important problem that needs to be addressed. Educating people about what they can do to help the planet is something that we believe is extremely important.

Sweta: One of the members on our team, Aneesha Nayak, talked to us about how she was very passionate about bringing awareness to the climate crisis. From this, we decided to create Girls for Science Environmental where we strive to educate others about how to improve the environment.

Read the whole interview below