Ask the Mary Sues: Our Favorite Fictional Women in STEM

February 11 marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a U.N.-designated day designed to address gender equity in STEM fields and improve access to science for women and girls. Women have long been underrepresented in the fields of science, engineering, technology, and math, and those that do receive smaller grants and are given less opportunities than their male counterparts.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and U.N. Women Executive Director Sima Bahous released a statement saying, “We must put the principle of equality into action so that science works for women, because it works against them all too often,” adding that “Science derives from the universal curiosity that makes us human, asking the questions that are common to us all. We urgently need it to build more inclusive, transformative and accountable science and technology ecosystems that are free of biases and discrimination.”

And the lack of women in STEM extends to representation in pop culture. So the Mary Sues sat down to discuss our favorite fictional women in science. And while these women are characters, who knows how many real life women were inspired to pursue science after watching these performances.

Rachel Leishman:

Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) changed the game for women in a multitude of ways. She was strong and passionate while still being a character we could all find aspects of ourselves in, and she inspired an entire generation of women to go into a science field. A paleobotanist in the Jurassic Park movies, Sattler stood her own with Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and survived by using her intelligence and training to escape the park safely with everyone and it has made her an icon to so many of us. We can’t wait to see her again in Jurassic World: Dominion.

Alyssa Shotwell:

Instead of trying to narrow down any of my favorites from comics and their adaptations – I’ll go with Symmetra from Overwatch. While I stopped playing Overwatch (for a number of reasons) sometime near the end of 2020, the lawful-neutral scientist has a special place in my heart. She’s a light-bending architect which would put her in the space of civil engineering, but also her focus is within the lab space. Even with all its changes from open-beta to when I stopped playing, Sym’s kit was always fun and really challenged me. I’m pretty sure I have about 800 play hours on her character alone. Now in Apex, I play Rampart whose voices by the same actress who plays Sym — Anjali Bhimani.

Princess Weekes:

Poison Ivy is my favorite because she uses science to actively protect the planet. While I do not condone her actions, I appreciate the energy. A lot of people aren’t about that life, but one thing we can say for sure is that Dr. Pamela Lilian Isley is ride or die for Planet Earth.

Leah Marilla Thomas:

Claire Temple, played by Rosario Dawson in Daredevil, used her nursing skills to get many a gritty superhero out of a scrape on Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Defenders, and Iron Fist… but it’s in Luke Cage that she goes full mad scientist. If you’re watching Marvel’s Netflix originals for the first time, don’t sleep on Claire!

Kaila Hale-Stern:

The reveal about Into the Spider-Verse’s Doctor Olivia Octavius—her friends call her Liv, her enemies call her Doc Ock—was one of my favorite parts of Into the Spider-Verse, which is already a perfect film. Originally introduced as an innocuous doctor, we soon learn that the brilliant Liv has another side—an evil one—and some additional arms. This scheming scientist is voiced exquisitely by Kathryn Hahn, who would go on to be everyone’s favorite WandaVision scheming witch next door. AND she has great hair?!? Icon.

Vivian Kane:

One of the coolest things about Black Panther (both the movie and the comics) is that the person in charge of driving the technological advancements in Wakanda, the most scientifically advanced civilization on the planet, is 16-year-old Shuri. There is a major dearth in terms of representation when it comes to seeing Black women and girls in STEM depicted onscreen and Shuri—a brilliant, fierce, hilarious scientist—had a majorly inspirational impact on audiences. (One that not even actress Letitia Wright’s anti-science tweets can fully dampen.)

Chelsea Steiner:

Will I ever stop caping for Ghostbusters: Answer the Call? Not today, ghoulfriends! The underrated entry into the Ghostbusters canon gave us four kickass women in STEM, but my heart will always belong to Dr. Jillian Holtzmann. Kate McKinnon delivers a brilliant performance as the group’s engineer, weapons designer, and Pringles enthusiast. I can’t help but wonder what a Ghostbusters crossover would look like with Holtzmann mentoring young Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) from Ghostbusters: Afterlife. And a special shoutout goes to Sigourney Weaver, for her cameo as Holtzmann’s mentor, Dr. Rebecca Gorin. Safety lights are for dudes!

And an honorable mention must go to Cosima Niehaus (Tatiana Maslany) and Delphine Cormier (Evelyne Brochu) from Orphan Black. Cosima is a graduate student and Project Leda clone studying evolutionary developmental (“evo-devo”) biology, who meets and falls in love with scientist (and monitor) Delphine. Delphine quickly ditches her monitor duty to help Cosima research and develop a cure for the the genetic disease plaguing the clones. The two get together, break up, fake their deaths, save each other’s lives, and end up being one of the series longest running couples.

Who makes your list of favorite fictional women in STEM? Let us know in the comments!

(image: Universal Pictures)

 —The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Chelsea Steiner

Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.

twitter