A new mural highlighting women in STEM disciplines adorns a wall near the main entrance of the A.W. Smith Building, an engineering facility on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Rachel Latina, a Cleveland-based artist, created the mural to send an important message about the importance of increasing the number of women in male-dominated fields such as engineering. At the current time, women make up about one third of all engineering students at Case Western Reserve. This is considerably higher than the national average of women in the field of academic engineering.
Latina said, “I felt the mural would inspire young women who perhaps felt intimidated by the notion of the field being male-dominated. I hope it gives encouragement to all the students, both male and female.” She added that her mural speaks out against stereotypes of women in mathematics and science. “As an artist, I feel an obligation to be a voice that speaks out against these biased point of views. I am very proud and honored to be the artist to paint this mural celebrating women in science.”