I brought this up in front of my other pre-med friends, and the majority of them seemed enthused and supportive. However, one of my female friends casually mentioned something about orthopedic surgeons being limited to hand and wrist surgeries due to their limited physical fitness. My male friend, who was also interested in orthopedics and happened to be scrawny like me, joked with me that we would work out together so we could meet the “criteria” for orthopods.
 
I laughed it off, but then it started bothering me. Already a petite girl standing at 4 ft. 11 in., my friends and I have joked that I would stand on a mini stool when in the OR. However, now I began wondering if I was physically fit to operate as a surgeon. People commonly attribute the surgical field’s gender disparity to the physical force required to move dislocated bones and joints back into place; however, since I had been shadowing an orthopedist that semester, I had fallen in love with ACL and rotator cuff surgeries, drawn in by the variety of tools the surgeons used and the collaborative atmosphere of the OR. I did not want to be segregated from the rest of the orthopods because I wasn’t strong enough.
 
So, I began doing some research. It turns out that there are short, not-as-muscular women just like me who are perfectly successful orthopedic surgeons! They use biomechanics to generate the same amount of force the other jock orthopods used to complete their surgeries. Sometimes, their colleagues would come to them to learn their techniques to generate greater forces since the female surgeons understood how to use the principles of torque and inertia to their benefit. . While the need for physical strength may have been relevant in the past, modern-day medical equipment has shifted the primary requisites from brute strength to manual dexterity, mechanical ability, and an aptitude in three-dimensional visualization.
 
Point being: There are going to be people who are going to cast doubt on your career choices, whether it be due to your gender, race, height, or any other discriminating feature they make up. Research shows that subtle attitudes are the leading factors that discourage women from fulfilling careers in orthopedics and surgical specialties in general. Both male and female respondents agreed that the lack of female role models in orthopedics is a barrier to women entering the field.
 
The rising proportion of women in surgical specialties, particularly in ob/gyn and general surgery with a high percentage of women, overall disproves the antiquated notion that women are simply not interested in surgery. So, for the other females out there like me interested in orthopedics but searching for role models, there are several female orthopedic surgical support organizations, including: The Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS), named after the first female orthopedic surgeon in the United States, The RJOS Guide for Women in Orthopaedic Surgery to guide women all the way from medical school to residency, and throughout their careers, and The Perry Initiative is another organization named after a pioneering woman in orthopedics, Dr. Jacquelin Perry.
 
Do your research, find yourself a good role model, and stay motivated to achieve your dreams!
 

Vera Rubin is to thank for one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century: dark matter. Since this invisible matter makes up around 80% of our universe, Rubin’s discovery opened up an entire new field of discovery and changed the way we view the universe. Many scientists, men as well as women, owe their research and their careers to Rubin. Rubin’s papers, including one about the Galaxy’s motion with respect to cosmic rest, are considered major contributions to astronomy.

In the midst of partaking in ground-breaking research on the nature of the universe, she also played a huge role in paving the way for female astronomers. She mentored other female scientists, like Rebecca Oppenheimer, and pushed for her colleagues to be taken seriously in a field dominated by men. She dealt with sexism on a daily basis (like meeting with other astronomers in the lobby because women were not ‘allowed’ in the offices), published, taught, and (if all that wasn’t enough!) raised four children.

One memorable occasion when Rubin stood up to the sexism of her time occurred when she became the very first woman to observe at the Caltech Palomar Observatory. The other astronomers, all men, told her that there was no ladies room for her in the observatory. In true Vera Rubin fashion, she cut out a skirt from a piece of paper and stuck it on the stick figure of the men’s bathroom door and said, “Look, now you have a ladies room.” Problem solved!

Yet, with all her achievements and various accolades, Vera Rubin was never rewarded by the Nobel committee like many women in physics. The scientific community is still outraged, not that this bothered Dr. Rubin. She claimed: “My numbers mean more to me than my name. If astronomers are still using my data years from now, that's my greatest compliment.”

However, award or no award, her work and the work of other female physicists should never remain in obscurity and should be celebrated and recognized by you and me. Honoring those greatest contributors to the STEM fields is important not only for our sake, but also an inspiration for the future generations to come.

“I always loved science, all sciences really, since I was young. It was always clear to me that my career would be related to the scientific world,” says Dr. Pernodet. Her scientific journey began after graduating from Louis Pasteur University with a PhD.  Her role as a professor at Stony Brook University allowed her to work in various interdisciplinary fields, ranging from chemistry to physics and biology. While at Stony Brook, she collaborated with Estée Lauder, and this later led her to accepting a position with Estée Lauder Skin Biology Group.

Although she loves the amalgamation of different scientific fields, she says it was challenging working with scientists from other fields when her focus as an early career scientist was in physical chemistry. In the present day, however, interdisciplinary projects are the norm and have the upper hand for securing grants. Dr. Pernodet stated her transition from academia to industry was a big risk at the time. However, she describes it as extremely rewarding in the long run. Dr. Pernodet, who’s an avid traveler and loves meeting people, says her job helps her complement her hobbies, as well as her career.

Dr. Pernodet is currently the Vice President of Estée Lauder Skin biology & Bioactives division and oversees the laboratory’s innovation and strategy division. Her group develops the technology and actives responsible for optimal performance in Estée lauder skin care products. She lends her scientific guidance to develop all Estée Lauder brand skincare products.

She currently oversees research from Mechanobiology to Epigenetics, Systems Biology, Master Pathways, and Biomimicry, to the development of BioActives from natural sources and synthetic chemistry. The recently launched Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix was based on her research in Mechanobiology and the constant micro-movements on skin and aging. This research is the result of years of study she began in Stony Brook on the mechanical forces that affect cell behavior. She appreciates being able to bring this knowledge to ELC to help support skin’s natural repair in the eye area. Another area of research that she is passionate about is how to improve skincare performance using a systems biology approach, in which a comprehensive network can be built to address the root cause of visible skin aging.

Dr. Pernodet’s role varies from day to day.  On some days she meets with collaborators, universities, and suppliers; on others she works with Estée lauder’s product development and marketing teams to formulate these products in the lab. She also works as the Estée Lauder skincare spokesperson and has a hand in communicating with international editors to explain the research and technologies behind new product launches. Her job provides her with a continuous learning experience and exciting opportunities for improvements to especially enhance and support women.

“Most young women would not realize that high-level science is used in the cosmetic industry, so just exposing young women to the vast career opportunities is important”, says Dr. Pernodet. Estée Lauder has been a long-time supporter of hiring women scientists at various levels of their careers. The company has also provided mentoring opportunities through speaking events at universities and campus recruitment.  Research & Development teams at ELC are keen on fostering relationships with the Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) community and are currently in the process of developing new programs aimed at young women in STEM fields.  As a woman in STEM herself, Dr. Pernodet is very aware of the challenges still facing those trying to advance in the field, as it is largely a male dominated sector. There is a lack of representation by females at the executive level in many R&D roles, however, the R&D workforce at ELC is about 60% female.

If you think that scientists are just dull people who don’t see further than the lab bench, you are completely wrong. I have the pleasure of presenting to you an inspiring scientist who makes a real difference in the world of science and innovation.

Dr Melanie Thomson is the General Manager of Education, Skills and Events at the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Industry Growth Centre in Australia (MTPConnect). There she is using her pioneering skills in science and communication to help connect scientific discoveries with business. As recognition of her work, she received the 2017 Telstra Victorian Public Sector and Academia Finalist Award.

Dr Mel Thomson, as she is better known, has a PhD in Microbiology and Master of Research in Biomolecular Structure and Function from the University of York, UK and Bachelor’s degree (Honours degree) in Immunology and Microbiology from the University of Melbourne. Before taking the position at MTPConnect, Dr Thomson worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, UK. Later she moved back to Australia to take a role as head of her own research group as a Lecturer at Deakin Medical School and the Geelong Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases. She has since left academia to take a high impact role at MTPConnect, a new national Growth Centre, which aims to expand the economic input of the MedTech, Pharmaceutical and Biotech Sector in Australia.

She is the one of the originators of crowdfunding initiatives for academia in Australia and is an active member of the women in STEM community. She also acts as a patient advocate and is often asked to speak on the ‘Hype versus Hope’ paradox presented by the research and development processes of medical research.

Dr Thomson’s lively social networking skills gained her thousands of twitter followers. Twitter is where I found out about her and we got connected.

She kindly agreed to respond to several questions for Scientista.

When did you know that you want to become a scientist?

I decided to become a scientist as a young girl, growing up on a farm in Australia. I was fascinated with observing and interacting with nature. Then, when I was aged 11-years-old, I had a teacher who encouraged us to do much more maths and science than was on the curriculum. I will never forget my ‘first experiment’ in that class, which was to lower the freezing and boiling point of water using salt. From that moment on, I didn’t look for other careers until I became disillusioned as a tenured academic in 2016.

What’s the most challenging aspect of being a woman in STEM?

I would say that the most challenging aspect is the constant ‘hand wringing’ that has happened at a global policy level for decades, about the dearth of women in STEM and the ‘leaky pipeline’. Most proposed solutions are focused on the wrong target, as they presume ‘women are deficient’ in this regard. This has not been my experience or those of my female colleagues in my large global network. Very few programs have taken a systems approach to the structural and cultural barriers that ‘lock out’ more women and under-represented minorities from the STEM industries. It’s incredibly frustrating to me to constantly be expected to be a role model to help encourage more of these groups into STEM, when the system is so broken and unable to adapt fast enough to embrace and include those whose ‘face doesn’t fit.’

Crowdfunding of scientific research is a relatively unknown idea. Could you tell us more about it?

Crowdfunding for the Arts and Media (to produce a book, a film, or an album), as well as to fund prototype development in technology are well established routes to raising the capital for finite goods. For something more long term and without a defined endpoint, like scientific research, it is more about direct engagement with members of the public. They need to see the ‘worth’ of what you and others are trying to achieve, before pledging funds to help you. In medical research, it was easy to explain the significance of the research, but I did face some ambivalence or hostility, as my fellow tax payers thought that something so important (such as the fight against superbugs) should be fully funded via other sources, such as government grants.
Crowdfunding for ecological programs which involve saving photogenic animals from extinction or that have a ‘cool! It’s about space!’ aspect to it tend to do better. It can sometimes be a popularity contest, to some extent.

Could you tell us more about your work for MTPConnect?

My current role as the General Manager of Education, Skills and Events is, in part, to make sure that the current courses and training offered around the country in Australia, are meeting our mission – to help to grow the MedTech, Biotech and Pharma ecosystem here in Australia. By education, we look to the whole spectrum: from technicians who work as contractors for pharmaceutical manufacturers and must understand what a ‘clean room’ is, to vocational courses and skills competency training for people who work on ‘the factory floor’ in manufacturing; all the way through to undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and into early career research scenarios.

MTPConnect also supports programs that teach early career researchers industry-relevant skills so that they can engage more appropriately outside academia. The focus is to help people coming through education pathways and who become bench researchers, to learn entrepreneurialism and commercialisation. The programs we support aim to give them the skills so they can understand how to fully capitalise on their future discoveries and have the confidence to develop a medtech or pharmaceutical product.

What do you want to say to the next generation of young people who want to do science?

STEM knowledge is no longer an ‘elective’ that you can choose to opt out of early in your education pathway. It increasingly underpins the conceptual basis for how we interact with the world and each other. Higher level STEM knowledge is valued by business and so taking these courses does not mean you will end up becoming a scientist in a conventional ‘white coat’. The next generation of scientists are going to have to face huge global challenges, which will need interdisciplinary approaches and problem solving abilities. My advice would be to make sure you develop skills and networks outside of the ‘ivory tower’ so that you will have the flexibility to adapt your critical thinking and problem solving talents.

What is your favourite book and movie?

My favourite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, as it is a tale of resilience and focused resolve, whilst still maintaining humility and humanity, in the face of inhuman treatment. Jane has a strong sense of self and natural justice and this never wavers.
My favourite movie is the original Blade Runner, as it examines the blurred interface between humans and sentient machines. I think the themes are going to become increasingly more pertinent as we rely on AI in the future.

Do you have a hobby?

Since being diagnosed with tumefactive multiple sclerosis (MS) at the end of 2014, I have got my motorcycle licence – mostly as I needed something more dangerous than the possible side effects of the treatment I am on. Also partly as I can still walk and balance, as the disease is in its early stages. My motorbike is a Z300 Kawasaki in charcoal, who I call Uma after Uma Thurman, who played the Bride in ‘Kill Bill’ and riding her makes me feel like I have triumphed over my disease.

Is there a place you want to visit, but haven’t chance to?

I would have liked to visited Africa by now, but my MS treatment renders me immunocompromised and unable to receive the live yellow fever vaccine. So I have to balance the risk of contracting infectious diseases, with my desire to travel. So far, since my treatment began, I have limited my travel to destinations that have a low burden of infectious disease, i.e. developed nations in Europe and North America.

Your favourite quote.
“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

CRISPR is an array made up of a series of direct repeats alternating with short intervening regions ("spacers") or Clustered Regularly InterSpersed Palindromic Repeats (1,2). It’s bacteria’s way to defend and gain resistance against phages (the viruses which infect bacteria). CRISPRs form a complex with a nuclease called Cas9 and is targeted by a short guide RNA that recognizes the target DNA via Watson-Crick base pairing. The guide sequence within these CRISPR RNAs typically corresponds to phage sequences, constituting the natural mechanism for CRISPR antiviral defence, but can be easily replaced by a sequence of interest to retarget the Cas9 nuclease (3). CRISPR RNA-guided systems are extremely versatile and can be easily programmed to target virtually any RNA or DNA substrate. These new RNA-guided nucleases are now being exploited by genome engineers for programmed manipulation of nucleic acids in diverse model systems (4).

CRISPR-Cas9 is a technology indicative of the future and inspired one young mind to read more about it and be a scientist one day. This is the 17-year-old Nguyễn Thụy Miên (Josephine) from The Anglophone British Curriculum International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She spent two years of reading and collecting information about the topic. You can read her review after the short interview below:

When and how did you become interested in research?

• About 2 years ago, I got interested in Biology as a school subject then I quickly developed a fervent desire to learn more about biology, particularly human biology. This was when I started extensively researching on the subject in my free time. As I was doing my research, I found myself intrigued by molecular biology because of the way it is not visible to the naked eye. Consequently, I started focusing my research on molecular biology & genetics and I have been doing research in this field ever since.

Do you have any mentors in your field?

• [My] biology teacher is someone I would thank for sparking my interest in biology and genetics as well as guiding me in these areas. She has shown me how to understand the logic of many biological processes and asked me questions that gave me the opportunity to think outside the box and do my own research to find answers. Moreover, she has always been supportive of my interest in genetics and encouraged me to pursue further education in this field.

Do you plan to pursue future education in the sciences?

Yes, I will pursue future education in science. One of my biggest life goals is to improve and save people's lives. Thus, I am currently deciding between studying & pursuing a career in either genetics or medicine, as both these fields allow me to achieve my goal while studying what I love the most.

Do you have any other advice or recommend any tools for young scientists like yourself? For example, how were you able to access journals?

My top recommendation for an online website that contains many academic papers and journals is PubMed.gov. Another useful tool is textbooks; there are textbooks available for sale online for just about every field in science and they often cover their respective subjects in detail. Obviously, some of them are expensive but they are also extremely helpful. An important advice I would give for other young scientists is to gather information from multiple sources. This will help them understand concepts fully, ensure that the information they have is correct, and they might even find other interesting things which they may wish to look further into!

RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS by Nathalia Holt (Little, Brown, and Company, $16.99) is such a story. Set years before the events of Hidden Figures, Rocket Girls follows similar women working in meager scientific positions before the era of spaceflight. For these women, their roles in labs—which were precursors to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab—were linked, mostly, to the scientific pursuits of their husbands. (Of note, a few, like African-American whiz Janez Lawson, were computers.) Rockets hardly existed, much like respectable jobs for women who savored math, experiments, and the dream of space. This is something we take for granted now, the book reminds us: Spaceflight and female STEM work are no longer lofty dreams.
 
Uniquely, Holt’s non-fiction book tracks multiple women who played a role in JPL’s formation and eventual takeoff. Yet her approach—the use of non-linear storytelling over more than five characters—backfires at times, and it becomes difficult to store the details of every woman’s life story. No woman feels like the primary protagonist of the book, but maybe that’s the point. The exposure to so many interwoven tales drives home a major theme: The same struggle and story is written into each woman’s life. Most of the stories are half-science, half-womanhood. For instance, many of the women abandon science for marriage or children. The question of whether women can have it all is still relevant, it seems.
 
The timeline of NASA’s early scientific endeavors is told through the lens of each woman’s life, and by the end, the jet propulsion lab is gazing at planets. Tidbits on physics and planetary science are coupled with strong scene-building using the women’s wardrobe, hair, and feminine characteristics. Such details are great moves by Holt. Unlike The Martian, a fiction work lauded for its supposed adherence to scientific fact, Rocket Girls is a refreshing—and far more real—portrayal of day-to-day habits in science and in life.
 
For example, an exceptional chapter is one on the “Miss Guided Missile” pageant held by JPL. In this contest, women from different JPL departments would compete to be dubbed the most popular woman in the lab. Holt beautifully describes the dress chosen for wear by Barbara Lewis, a likeable computer, who must still appear smart while maintaining her femininity (e.g. What type of cookies should she bake for the contest?). Holt also uses this scenario to make an interesting point: While the work pageant might seem sexist by today’s standards, the ability to even hold a pageant for women was indicative of the progressive hiring standards of JPL at the time. Most scientific workplaces were male-only.
 
The meticulous research undergone to craft this book is evident, and each woman’s personal narrative is not just a story of ‘her,’ but a layperson’s guide to both history and science. Holt delivers the type of knowledge that makes me think she would claim victory at any type of trivia.
 
Holt’s intellect isn’t surprising—she herself is a female scientist. Her bio lists impressive credits of research at MIT and Harvard University. In the preface, we learn that Holt named her daughter after Eleanor Francis, one of the earliest computer programmers at NASA. This spurred the exploration culminating in Rocket Girls. Only some women would be so bold.
 
Rocket Girls is really a tale of boldness. The guts and sacrifices made to achieve success in the early rocket industry, let alone as a woman, are the reasons later stories like Hidden Figures can now be told.  
 
It would be silly of me to pretend that reading this book wasn’t especially affirming for this young female scientist in a time of turmoil for both women and science. Holt’s book serves as a reminder that women (and scientists!) must fight for their roles in history. It is also a subtler reminder that even the dreams that still may seem reserved for men were, in fact, paved by brilliant women.

Coming from a science-loving family, Elizabeth grew up with those passions already engrained in her life. Her father would often read to her from Science News and her mother, who possessed a deep affection for geology and anthropology, would discuss the subjects with her daughter regularly, and all from a very early age. The question was never “What should I do when I grow up?” but “How should I pursue this love for science?” Elizabeth explained how she attempted to narrow down her options. “In college, I decided to take one class in every science department. It was really fun and although I loved every single one of them, biology really stood out. This still wasn't very specific but it was a start!”

As Elizabeth moved through high school and college, she felt that the only options presented to biology students were to become an MD or a PhD. Not exactly interested in working in a laboratory all day, she decided to get a job at a hospital and study for the MCATs while applying to various medical schools. She worked as a Clinical Research Assistant for two years before she decided she was ready to move on to bigger and better things. Mentioning that her MCAT scores were not particularly good, Elizabeth began looking at MPH programs as a means of bolstering her chances of getting into med school. “Luckily, I found an amazing program that offered a Masters in Microbiology and Emerging Infectious Disease that combined coursework from a public health school and a med school. I loved microbiology in college and infectious diseases were a strong interest of mine, so I joined the program. …What I discovered was that epidemiology really appealed to the analytical, big picture side of me. I loved it! And I learned this was a lot closer to what I was looking for rather than a means to an end. Working so hard for something that my heart wasn't truly in - med school - was very challenging for me, but finding infectious disease epidemiology allowed me to finally let that go.”

After Elizabeth had graduated with her Master’s Degree and was applying to epidemiology positions, she finally had some flexibility in her schedule to allow her to develop a hobby she had always been interested in: screen printing! In 2012 she started her own business, Fraggles & Friggles, as a result, saying, “The science and puns just came naturally!” Fraggles & Friggles is a family-run business, providing t-shirts, jewelry and prints “for the science nerd in all of us.” Adding to a skill set obtained during her years of work and education, this business has offered new opportunities for growth and ability. “Owning a business has definitely taught me customer service and I try to keep this in mind when I work with "clients" at my day job, whether that's the general public, patients, or stakeholders. I also feel like it offers some variety in my life. I have a lot to look forward to when I come home and get to work on my shop.”

Epidemiology has opened up a lot of doorways for Elizabeth, and she believes it is an exceptional option for people who are interested in biology or health. She says, “You can focus on policy, technology/social media, biology, or statistics. And then you can work for [the] government, a private health organization, a pharmaceutical company, a hospital, or a professional society! The options are vast and it's definitely worth investigating to see if it's for you.” She also has some words of wisdom for anyone interested in starting their own business. “I recommend that you 1. Go for it! 2. Invest just small sums up front and then re-invest the money that you make back in to your business. This way it will grow with you and you can take the time to figure out the details and the direction of your business. And if you have any questions, email me!”
 
So for any of you who are unsure about taking those first steps toward epidemiology, infectious disease, or even starting your own company, breathe easy, because you’ve already got a friend in the business!
 
 
 
Elizabeth is giving Scientista readers a 25% discount at www.fragglesandfriggles.etsy.com! Use the coupon code “Scientista25“ (without quotes).

In her interview with Haaretz, Prof. Dafna Kariv, the head of the strategy and development department at Rishon LeZion’s College of Management, shed light on why she thinks women are a rarity in Israeli high-tech. She thinks that female entrepreneurs work in more traditional sectors like apparel, fashion and lifestyle. “These three sectors produce less money and less growth. Second, the startup world is very male, and it simply deters women. Statistics show that even if the idea is the woman’s she’ll take a man with her,” she added.
 
Also, the process for learning tech should start earlier. For example, a girl could help her dad fix the car, build something out of Legos, and satiate her curiosity for the world. However, the opposite is encouraged in our society, as seen in Verizon’s “Inspire Her Mind” commercial. The problem only grows from here. Because there aren’t many women in tech and thereby a lack of role models, it can be intimidating for women to enter the field.
 
So, what is being done to alleviate these problems and make the high tech world embrace women and vice-versa?
 
Every country has their initiatives, be it international, that serve to empower females to become more active in STEM. In Israel, WMN and WIT are two of among many that aim to do this. WMN is a social initiative that provides community members with a co-working space, mentoring, and professional events with leaders in the industry in order to encourage more women to create start-ups. It was founded by Merav Oren, a multidisciplinary entrepreneur who also happens to be the CEO of Agora, which provides services and ideas to transform public spaces that will build stronger communities. WIT (Women Innovation, Technology) is the first international teach entrepreneurship conference for women that began in 2015 and invites female tech bloggers and entrepreneurs worldwide. Women from India, Israel, USA, Germany, Russia, Poland and China had the opportunity to experience the Start-Up Nation firsthand last summer. The conference includes talks from top innovators in the tech world; visits to high-tech hubs in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem; get-togethers with potential investors, entrepreneurship centers, and accelerators; and a start-up pitch competition. Also, the Israeli Vietnamese embassy is launching a new, international, female-only startup competition called Startup Tel Aviv in September 2016. Germany, Spain, Finland, Norway, Italy, Korea, Japan, India, and Russia will be among the 39 other countries participating. There is also a TEDxTelAvivWomen event where successful female entrepreneurs speak to share their stories and help to inspire others.
 
Motherhood is another thing to consider when thinking about the low number of women in tech. Of course, many women want to raise a family and work, which is great, but how will they manage their time? It’s tricky. “Many women compromise on their professional ability so they can take their children to preschool. There are so many women with PhDs who are overqualified for their jobs. In the world of entrepreneurship, they not only can empower their professional side, they can help the world,” said Prof. Kariv.

Thankfully, to address this, Google has devised a new initiative, Campus for Moms, which is based in Tel Aviv. The program offers nine weekly classes “designed to give women on maternity leave a boost toward opening their own ventures in a country whose economy is dependent on innovation,” according to BloombergTechnology. Many start-ups are being created thanks to this. Google is now opening similar programs in Krakow, Poland and London, England to address this issue worldwide.
 
Israel’s mandatory military service may also affect the gender gap in the tech scene. “Hilla Brenner, founder of Yazamiyot, a women’s entrepreneurial group that worked with Google to create Campus for Moms, [told BloombergTechnology] that the country’s mandatory military service of two years for women and three years for men is also partly to blame for muting female business dreams. Women often have to accommodate their husbands’ armed-forces duties or delay careers because of their own.”
 
Brenner, a 38-year-old mother of three who raised $5 million for her first start-up when she was nine months pregnant, added: “To become an entrepreneur, you need to be completely involved in something else besides your family. This is more difficult in Israel than in other places because your partner does reserve duty, sacrificing for his country, while you sacrifice for the kids.”
 
To conclude, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to initiatives to make women better represented in tech. Since this is a relatively “new” field, there are still numerous problems to address. “Like in most other places in the world of tech, women entrepreneurs in Israel are still under-represented. Projects like ‘Google Campus’ [and] ‘Campus For Moms’ are great, but there’s much work to be done,” said Assaf Luxembourg. “There is a lot of potential in this.”
 
Read Part I of Jessica’s 3-part series at Summer in Start Up Nation
Read Part II of Jessica’s 3-part series at A Start Up Nation Summer

 A Start Up Nation Summer
As you can imagine, taking part in this economic miracle was a pretty extraordinary opportunity that I jumped at the chance of having. My tasks for the summer included digital/content marketing and social media. In other words, as the content marketing manager, I wrote blog posts for the website, quirky descriptions of artists that are included on the website’s database, and helped the start-up prepare for the launch of their new website by updating every song in the database (there are thousands) to their new respective categories.
 
As someone who just graduated with Bachelor Degrees in Environmental/Atmospheric Science and Fiction Writing, I still find this experience relevant to my future career. One of the many things that I want to focus on is science outreach – and I hope to accomplish this through social media and other ways. Thankfully, over the summer, I learned more about how to spread my message more clearly across various social platforms online, boosting my confidence in achieving my future mission.
 
The company is a tight-knit community of five employees and two summer interns. Being part of a tight-knit space is great for start-ups, in my opinion, because it provides a great outlet for exchanging ideas since everyone is familiar and comfortable with one another. It was amazing to see how a start-up actually functions first-hand. I participated in meetings and got to provide suggestions on the new website’s content. It has already launched and it was eye-opening to see everyone work together so efficiently to make this happen.
 
I spoke to Nimrod Cohen, the CEO of OnlinePianist, about how his start up began. “I had a longtime dream of learning to play the piano, but more than anything I wanted to play my favorite songs and not necessarily learn the theoretical aspect of learning piano (which is highly important of course). I was advised by a good friend to check what can be found online, and so I came across YouTube videos where people record themselves playing songs with the purpose of teaching other people. After trying this method, I realized that I was very passive in the process, as the video technology had very few basic functionalities (play/pause...) and I couldn't for example ask the person who recorded the video to play a specific part, or to slow down, or to play an easier version of the song etc... So this is how the idea for OnlinePianist came about. We decided to develop a similar method with animation and with this technology; we enabled the user to fully control and design his learning experience with advanced player features such as speed adjustment, individual hand practice, song segmentation, finger positions and more!”
After hearing this, the genuine purpose of start-ups became clearer to me. They are created due to something that the founder thought was lacking in the world. That’s what makes them so innovative in the first place – they’re created to make life easier and more enjoyable for everyone. So, with this logic, a personal issue can lead to a world-wide solution.
 
“First, simply put, many start-ups simply make our lives easier and better. Most start-ups were born due to a shortcoming that one of the founders felt in [his or her] personal life and thought about a solution to overcome this shortcoming. Second, I believe that one of the virtues of human beings is being able to be creators, and by creating something new with one’s talents, it can bring a lot of joy and happiness,” Mr. Cohen added.
 
Israeli start-ups tend to be very international. Over the past six years, interns and employees for OnlinePianist have come from Israel, the United States, New Zealand, Germany, France, the Palestinian Authority, and Canada. Also, I was the only female at the company this summer, which leads me to the third part of this article: Women in start-ups.
 
Read Part I of Jessica’s 3-part series at Summer in Start Up Nation
Read Part III of Jessica’s 3-part series at Women in Israeli Tech Start Ups

Before I begin, let me provide a disclaimer. This is not meant to be a political post by any means. I am simply describing the phenomenon of how a small, ~20,770 km², 68 year old nation happens to have the world’s second best start up ecosystem, after Silicon Valley. This is according to the first data-driven ranking and analysis of 50,000 start-ups worldwide. This article will be divided into a three-part series. The first part will concisely shed light on this, the second will be about my experience as an intern at a start-up in Tel Aviv, and the third will be about women in the start-up realm.

A Technological Oasis in the Middle East: A Brief Explanation of the Start Up Nation
I know what you’re thinking: Israel – a start-up nation? But how? It’s a long story that will take an entire book to explain (see Start Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer). For now, however, I will briefly present you with the info that got me fascinated with the Israeli start-up scene and will share some words from people who are making this a reality.
 
First, let’s look at the land. Most of the start-ups are concentrated in the center, the Tel Aviv region, which happens to be the most populous area and among the narrowest part of the country, which is around 9 miles, or 15 km, wide. Yes, as wide as a city. And it’s home to 1/1000th of the world’s population. As said by Senor and Singer in Start Up Nation, all of these conditions “make Israelis skeptical of conventional explanations about what is possible.” So, they innovate.
 
Israel leads the world in the “percentage of the economy that is spent on research and development” (Senor and Singer, UNDP Report 2007/2008) and various top-tier tech companies and investors around the world are noticing this. Companies such as Intel and Microsoft have set up large Research and Development centers in Israel. As a matter of fact, according to Senor and Singer, “almost half the world’s top technology companies have bought start-ups or opened R&D centers in Israel.” Also, “Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer has called Microsoft ‘an Israeli company as much as an American company.’ [And] an American executive from eBay said, ‘Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, eBay … the list goes on. The best kept secret is that we all live and die by the work of our Israeli teams. It’s much more than just outsourcing call centers to India or setting up IT services in Ireland. What we do in Israel is unlike what we do anywhere else in the world.’”
 
This international involvement helps to explain “why, in addition to boasting the highest density of start-ups in the world (a total of 3850 start-ups, one for every 1,844 Israelis), more Israeli companies are listed on the NASDAQ exchange than all companies from the entire European continent” (Senor and Singer). As a matter of fact, after the United States, Israel has more companies listed on the NASDAQ than any other country in the world.
 
Note that this statistic is from 2009. The number of start-ups has since drastically risen even though many Israeli companies are making exits (being bought by larger companies for millions and even billions of dollars). That can be a good thing, too. In 2015, for example, while the number of start-ups rose by 1400, 54 start-ups produced exits in the first half of the year, making 5.29 billion USD – the overall amount in 2014!
 
Case in point: Waze. Google purchased this Israeli map app in 2013 for $1.15 billion, serving as the first Israeli consumer-app company to be bought for over a billion dollars. Ever heard of Viber? This Israeli messaging app was acquired by Japan’s Rakuten for $900 million in 2014.  Now, more and more companies are focusing on building their industries rather than selling them.
 
In Start Up Nation, Senor and Singer mention that “Warren Buffett, the apostle of risk aversion, broke his decades-long record of not buying any foreign company with the purchase of an Israeli company – for $4.5 billion – just as Israel began to fight the 2006 Lebanon war.”
 
Here’s something else to consider: Israel has been involved in conflicts with its neighbors ever since its foundation in 1948 (the War of Independence). But are the start-ups affected by this? Let’s take a look. “During the six years following 2000, Israel was hit not just by the bursting of the global tech bubble but by the most intense period of terrorist attacks in its history and by the second Lebanon war” (Senor and Singer). Can you guess what happened during this time? Well, “Israel’s share of the global venture capital market did not drop – it doubled [!] from 15% to 31% … Israeli political economist Gidi Grinstein said, ‘Look, we doubled our economic situation relative to America while multiplying our population fivefold and fighting three wars. This is totally unmatched in the economic history of the world.’ And, he [said], the Israeli entrepreneur continues to perform in unimaginable ways.”
 
People clearly think that this is the place from which lots of big ideas will originate. Google’s CEO and chairman, Eric Schmidt, has said that “after the US, Israel is the best” for entrepreneurship (Senor and Singer).
 
“Gary Shainberg, British Telecom’s VP for technology and innovation told [Dan Senor and Saul Singer], ‘There are more new innovative ideas, as opposed to recycled ideas – or old ideas repackaged in a new box – coming out of Israel than there are out in [Silicon] Valley now. And it doesn’t slow during global economic downturns.’” And how is this happening? What is it about Israel that makes its start-up scene so distinct, audacious, and globalized? There are lots of ideas surrounding this.
 
Assaf Luxembourg, CEO of crowdmii.com, shared his thoughts on this subject: “I believe that non-related to external factors, there are internal factors which allowed Israel to grow itself into a world-leading cluster of innovation and entrepreneurship. Many of these internal factors are related to the culture and the ethos of Israel. Two main factors are a) The ‘home’ factor - Israelis feel very ‘at home’ in Israel, which allows them to ‘be themselves’ more, take more risks, be more creative and open to new ideas, etc., and b) A sense of purpose - That notion that ‘we are a part of something that is bigger than us’ allows for more risk taking and failure acceptance. All and all, these internal cultural factors provide the right ground for ‘creative energy’, which I believe is a big part of the ‘DNA’ of the ‘Israeliness.’”
 
What does the future look like for the unique Israeli start-up culture? Will more companies exit or will they stay and build billion dollar industries? Mr. Luxembourg said, “We will have to make more efforts to maintain our local cluster relevant in a fast growing more competitive market. We will have to find out how we preserve our relative cultural advantages. We will have to learn how to grow more mature companies, and not just a lot of start-ups which are acquired in early stages.”

Read Part II of Jessica’s 3-part series at A Start Up Nation Summer
Read Part III of Jessica’s 3-part series atWomen in Israeli Tech Start Ups