Breaking barriers: Women Take Command, from Earth to Space
This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.
Women have been conditioned for centuries as to where they should be—in the home, behind a computer, anywhere except at the very forefront of technological advancement. Yet history has witnessed otherwise. The first woman to break the shackles of gravity, the current trailblazers creating technology accessible to all—women are not just a part of progress but are progress themselves.
But gender inequality is entrenched in our systems, even where it should not be at all. The "motherhood penalty" penalizes women for attempting to do what men are rewarded for juggling. Medical sciences, AI, and even astronauts' gear as well are prone to being created for the male form and have women fighting literally to fit in within systems created by them with no consideration. Glass ceiling? The entry of Indian women in the field of STEM is a testament to this resolve. In a country where education for girls was not even on the cards, today we have pioneers such as Kalpana Chawla and Ritu Karidhal, who have carried India's aspirations to beyond the skies. Women scientists and astronauts are not only role models but working participants of frontier research that works in the interest of all of humanity. Their contribution towards space technology, medical science, and sustainability is of long-lasting impact, confirming that if women succeed, the world succeeds too. Nevertheless, in spite of these trailblazing efforts, the hurdles do not end here. Women back on Earth still experience prejudices hampering their reach, whether it is pay inequities, constricting social norms, or the unavailability of gender-sensitive technology. Even in space, research and technology have long been based on male physiology as the standard, compelling women to operate in systems never designed for them.
We must have workplaces that do not dissuade women for opting for motherhood. We must have technology and research that consider female physiology, safe and efficient for all of us. We must have policies that deconstruct institutional prejudice, not just celebrate one-off victories.
It is not about achieving new heights in outer space that women's equality is being fought for; it's about making progress accessible to all women on our planet.
Top representation needs to equal policy shifts, improved infrastructure, and cultural change that puts women's work at its core. Because when a woman steps on the Moon or commands a Mars mission, it is not her alone—it is a revolution.
A reminder that the sky was never the limit and that the future, here on Earth and elsewhere, must belong to *all* of us.
Comments (3)
Mostly I feel like most women are able to be scientist like doctors, biologists, astronomers. Everything is possible if your a person. Gender does not defy what you want to do and whats stopping you from having a dream. Women for a matter of a fact become many great things when grow up like teachers, doctors, and even mathematicians. Women and men can break stereotypes about themselves and break chains from what their destiny is suppose to be.
Your words have deeply resonated. For too long, societal chains have dictated where women belong, yet from kitchens to the cosmos, women have rewritten futures. Kalpana Chawla and Ritu Karidhal didn't just breach STEM's male-dominated frontiers; they redefined what the "limit" was for millions of girls, not just Indians. Their legacies are not isolated, but are the blueprints for systemic change.
Yet, as you highlight, progress is not even. The "motherhood penalty" exposes a glaring hypocrisy: society celebrates fathers for balancing work and family while punishing mothers for the same. Meanwhile, technologies like AI and spacesuits are built on male-centric data forces, which forces women to adapt to systems that erase their needs. This is exclusion by design.
True equality is not just token representation. It requires dismantling barriers at every level: workplaces that penalize caregiving, research shows that large amounts of jobs ignore female physiology and then make policies that conflate "neutral" with "male". When astronaut gear accomades women's bodies or medical studies equally prioritize their health, it's a correction to a flawed system. India's STEM surge shows than when girls access education and mentorship, they transform industries. But imagine if every girl had a chance to access STEM, the world would flourish.
The future fight isn't just about Mars, it's about reshaping Earth. Let's ensure it is designed with women, not in spite of them. As you said, the sky was never the limit, it was the starting point. Let's ensure the next frontier is built by all.
For centuries , women have been forced to fit into a world designed without them in mind. But what happens when they stop trying to fit in and start reshaping the world itself? From space exploration to artificial intelligence, women are not just making breakthroughs , they are proving that innovation and progress is incomplete without them.
The real question isn't whether women can succeed in STEM or not , it's why women still have to fight for a seat at the table , when they have already built half of it . The great achievements of Kalpana Chawla , Ritu Karidhal and countless others are not exceptions or fluke , they are the proof of what's a women is capable of doing when the barriers are removed. The future isn't about celebrating the few who have made it , it is about ensuring that every women who dares to dream has the resources and recognition to turn that dream into reality without fearing from anyone.
After all progress is not progress unless it includes everyone in it.