‘IF she can see it, THEN she can be it.’

Images of professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields have traditionally underrepresented women and minorities. This makes it challenging for organizations like Play Like a Girl to develop compelling visual content that allows girls to see themselves engaging in science.

IF/THEN®, a national initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies which seeks to advance women in STEM, launched the IF/THEN® Collection to address this issue. The Collection is the largest, free resource of its kind with thousands of photos and videos of diverse and powerful contemporary women in STEM.

The Collection is critical to inspiring girls to pursue STEM careers and shifting how the world perceives women in STEM.

”Our goal is for girls everywhere to see STEM as exciting, relevant, and cool.”

—Nicole Small

The IF/THEN Collection features 125 female STEM innovators known as AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassadors, who serve as high-profile role models for girls. You may recall several of these women (Afua Bruce, Gracie Ermi, Sydney Hamilton and Beata Mierzwa) from our #GirlsRockSTEM Summit back in June.

Like these women, generations of women scientists and innovators have long created the realities we experience in the world.

Imagine life without the following seven inventions by women:

Medical Syringes

For years, the medical community struggled to perform procedures, as syringes required two hands to operate. In 1899, Leticia Greer created a revolutionary design for a one hand syringe that quickly replaced the old model. Her design is still in use today worldwide. She single handedly changed medical procedure through her creation.

Windshield Wipers

Every single car on the market today comes with windshield wipers to protect drivers’ vision in the rain. However, most people don’t realize that the original design for them came from Mary Anderson in 1903. Sadly, because she was a woman, her design was not implemented for ten more years. At that point it was accredited to a different inventor.  

Central Heating

In 1919, Alice Parker changed the heating game with her invention of a natural gas heating system to replace the wood burning systems in place at the time. However, like Anderson, her design was sadly later popularized by and credited to another inventor. 

Computers

Our society has increasingly become centered around computers in this technological age. A lot of people might not know this, but without mathematician Ada Lovelace who wrote the original computer algorithm in 1843 and computer scientist Grace Hopper who later wrote the first modern computer programming language in 1952, computers would not function how they do today. 

Word Processing

Almost everyone in the U.S. has used Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Pages. Without Evelyn Berezin who created the first word processing system in 1971, we might still be writing our papers on typewriters.

Airplane Mufflers

We would not be able to fly all around the world today like we do without airplane mufflers to protect the engines. In 1917, the “Iron Woman” El Dorado Jones invented the airplane muffler in her metalworking factory. This revolutionized the flight industry, changing the scope of what planes can do. 

Refrigerators

It’s hard to imagine a kitchen without a refrigerator to keep food from going bad. In 1914, Florence Parpart created the first electric refrigerator to replace the ice boxes people were using at the time. Her design has improved over the years, but still resembles what you probably have in your own kitchen. 

We are thrilled to finally have images that depict the world as we see it here at Play Like a Girl. Many thanks to IF/THEN and all of the partners who have played a role in bringing the Collection to the world.