PCH specialists championing futures for girls in science

Role models for girls in science Asha, left, and Kate.

Across Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH), women working in scientific and clinical roles are doing more than improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

As role models, mentors and leaders, they are also breaking down barriers and encouraging younger generations of women and girls to consider careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

This International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we shine a spotlight on the contributions of two PCH specialists who are actively driving this change.

Infectious Diseases Specialist, Professor Asha Bowen OAM, believes the idea that science is for men, persists even today.

“In a lot of people’s minds, a scientist is still a man in a lab coat,” she says.

But she hopes her work – both inside and outside the hospital – is helping shift that perception.

Away from PCH, Asha dedicates some of her spare time to visiting schools and taking part in university girls-in-science days to help students view STEM as an option for all.

Since 2018, she has delivered talks and workshops at the primary school her children once attended, sharing her passion for science with an estimated 400 Year 6 girls preparing to enter high school.

Last year, she returned to her own high school in Sydney where – alongside other female alumni succeeding in STEM – she shared her journey to becoming a professor. After presenting to around 300 girls in Years 7–9, Asha also ran workshops that included fun lessons on taking ‘tonsil selfies’.

“I used the exercise to show how we developed a method to better understand Strep throat and prevent rheumatic fever,” she says.

“Sharing our stories is a powerful way to show girls that they too can aspire to careers in science.”

Another trailblazer helping to shape the future of women in STEM is Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Kate Stannage. In 2008, she became only the third female orthopaedic surgeon in WA. Today she is one of just five, but that has not stopped her becoming a strong voice for women in surgery.

In 2018 Kate received an Excellence in Women’s Leadership award for her efforts to see women given equitable access to higher levels of leadership.

More recently, she played a key role in developing the Australian Orthopaedic Association’s first Pregnancy in Orthopaedics Guidelines, designed to improve workplace safety for expectant surgeons.

The guidelines were in response to a 2024 study which found orthopaedic surgeons had significantly higher rates of miscarriage and pregnancy complications than the general population, and 3 times the rate of infertility.

The study also highlighted potential workplace risks to the women’s unborn babies, including long hours and exposure to bone cement, diathermy smoke and formaldehyde from cadavers and anatomical laboratories.

“Given that 25 per cent of trainees nationally are now women – and of child bearing age – it was vital we took action to protect their welfare,” Kate says.

“We also know that around a quarter of female orthopaedic surgeons have at least one baby during their training, so these guidelines will protect their offspring too.”

“If we want to encourage more women into our profession, we need to provide them safe and supportive work environments.”

With the pregnancy guidelines now in place, Kate is focusing on:

• producing evidence based radiation safety guidelines for female orthopaedic surgeons, who experience higher rates of breast cancer than the general population
• developing a framework and policy for orthopaedic surgeons returning to work after an interruption to training
• improving orthopaedic surgical training for everyone by investigating “confidence vs competence” and defining gender bias in workplace based assessments
• chairing the Australian Orthopaedic Association’s Orthopaedic Women’s Link, which supports women throughout their orthopaedic careers.

Both Asha and Kate continue to make an impact not only through their clinical and research roles at PCH, but by inspiring girls and young women to pursue their own futures in science technology, engineering and maths.