Over the years, the advancement in science and technology is undeniable. Technology has made so many things a billion times easier and many more times faster.

Inventions such as cars, boats, industrial production machines, digital technologies, telecommunication channels, mobile phones, entertainment tools and so much more.

We can agree that all of these came to be, by many generations of research and development in the STEM industry.

So, what then is this STEM, and who are those that are and were involved in STEM

What is STEM?

STEM is the intentional integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and their associated practices.

STEM aims to investigate and engineer solutions to problems and construct evidence-based explanations of real-world phenomena.

The acronym, STEM was introduced in 2001 by scientific administrators at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

This organization previously used the acronym, SMET. Since it was changed to STEM, the curriculum has been extended to many countries, the United Kingdom inclusive.

The STEM gap

We cannot talk about STEM and not mention the gender gap in STEM, girls and women are systematically side-lined from science and math throughout their education such that when they become adults only a few go on to have STEM careers.

Although as wide as this gap might be, there are and there have been important black women in STEM, and these women have done tremendous things.

Notable Women in STEM

Historically, black women in STEM have had to overcome a lot, even had to work twice or thrice hard as their white or male counterparts to achieve the bare minimum, but this has not hindered some great women who have gone on to become inventors and pioneers in their fields.

  1. Dorothy Lavinia Brown

 First African American female surgeon.

  1. Elizabeth Anionwu

A British nurse and professor at the University of West London. In 1979, she set up the first UK sickle cell centre. Anionwu has advocated for minority communities affected by genetic disorders.

  1. Kathleen Okikiolu

A renowned British mathematician. She did her Ph.D. at the University of California, on the analogue of the strong Szego limit theorem on 2- and 3- dimensional spheres. In 1997, she became the first Black person to win the Sloan Research Fellowship, the most prestigious prize for young mathematicians in the US.

  1. Maggie Aderin-Pocock

A British space scientist and science communicator. Born in London in 1968, had her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the Imperial College London. She then spent 3 years working for the UK Ministry of Defence, before going back to academia, where she worked on a high-resolution spectrograph for the Geminin telescope in Chile.

  1. Charlotte Armah

A British nutritional biochemist at the Institute of Food Research. She has had a successful career spanning from pharmacology to nutrition. She leads experiments involving human volunteers to learn whether eating particular foods especially broccoli, can protect us from diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.  

STEM in the hair industry

Cosmetology is the study of hair, nail, skin, and other related aspects. Cosmetology is the application of scientific knowledge in the beauty industry.

Cosmetology is a branch of STEM in that scientific, engineering, technological, and mathematical methods are all employed in research and development.  

How Locs/ hair relates to STEM

STEM and cosmetology are related in different ways.

  • The S, which is Science, is applied in the hair industry by conducting research and gaining knowledge on issues such as how hair grows, the components of hair, what chemicals and hormones affect hair growth either positively or negatively, and many more.
  • The T, Technology, is used in making tools and materials that make life easier, that make a person’s hair journey easier. Take for example the advent of digital technologies and tools such as search engines, or the internet, which allows people access to all the information they need and require for the best hair experience they deserve.
  • The E, Engineering, is related to the hair industry, such that machines and equipment, that are made use of, in the salon or even at home, that help you style your hair are all engineered.
  • M meaning Mathematics. Our everyday life is filled with mathematics, even if we might not take note. You want to pay your Loctician for services rendered and you COUNT money, you want to put a certain cream, shampoo, etc. on your hair, you must have MEASURED accurately or inaccurately, all of these are all application of mathematics.

How STEM is changing how we do things in the Salon

At the Kouturelocs salon, we have embraced STEM and its applications into what we do. Some of the ways we have done this are:

  • We educate our customers on different aspects of their lives including health, finances, etc. through blogs.
  • We make use of updated and developed technologies in the salon to deliver the best services to our customers.
  • We also try to educate young women and girls that gender dominance in certain STEM careers should not deter them from exploring their interests in such careers. The world needs more women innovators and leaders.
  • Encouraging recent developments such as blockchain and its applications, such as payments, smart contracts, etc.    

Sources: FLDOE, Britannica, AAUW, STEM.org.uk, OCR, Varsity.