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It has taken me almost two decades as a female physicist to have an epiphany: Women in STEM are quantum queens.
I don’t mean to suggest that we all are quantum physics experts, but rather that we embody the foundational principles of quantum mechanics — we are different from what is currently recognized as the norm, and we experience unique challenges maintaining equilibrium. Women in STEM are not simple 1s and 0s. We are a superposition of states, entangled with our environment, and have to be everywhere, for everyone, all the time.
Given the multitude of barriers (both perceived and real), we also are at a higher risk for decoherence. Being a quantum queen is incredibly challenging and requires persistence, resilience, flexibility, and self-awareness. We must build complex and adaptive networks of family, champions, and supporters to shine as the quantum queens that we are!
I started my journey as a woman in STEM while earning bachelor’s degrees in physics and music at Bucknell University. At Bucknell, I had a fantastic female professor (the only female in the department) who encouraged me to pursue a physics Ph.D. — even though I didn’t believe I was good enough. To my delight and surprise, I was accepted into several Ph.D. programs!
It wasn’t until I joined Carnegie Mellon as a first-year physics Ph.D. candidate that I began to realize I was different. I was a qubit in a classical electronics world, and I didn’t fit in in so many ways — from my gender, academic background, and learning style to external societal pressures and internal judgements.
I would not be a physicist today had it not been for a wonderfully supportive male professor who gave me time and space to develop, and, most importantly, an experimental research assistant position wherein I fell in love with the lab! Just like Taylor Swift’s song “Lover” (yes, I am a Swiftie), experimental physics is like “a dazzling haze…with mysterious ways…and best of all — we make the rules.”
After a few years of living my best life in the lab (and earning my Ph.D. along the way), I joined Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. At Sandia, I excelled in multiple technical and leadership roles, including as a principal investigator and lead for U.S. government programs. During this period, I deepened my love for science and built my network of fellow STEMers while learning to navigate the complex world of being a quantum queen.
As my career grew, so did my out-of-office responsibilities. As a wife, mom, caregiver, homeowner, pet owner, and ambitious physicist, always being in this superposition of states became a notable challenge. I wasn’t a “1” or a “0,” at work or at home. I had to be everything, to everyone, at all times. My life was in a constant state of quantum entanglement, where my career could not be described or managed independently. I loved my family and my job, yet was missing balance.
By reconfiguring the states in my Schrödinger equation, I chose to shift to part-time scientist and full-time caregiver for the next 12 years. While I was able to enjoy formative years with my young children, this choice affected the rate of my career advancement.
As my children got older, I was able to shift more focus back toward work. In 2019, I accepted a full-time position as a technical director within the Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the National Security Agency. In 2022, I became a member of the Senior Executive Service and now serve as the chief strategist for microelectronics.
I love working at NSA and serving the nation. We are a deeply technical organization focused on our foreign signals intelligence, cybersecurity missions and our people, who defend the nation, save lives, and advance U.S. goals and alliances globally. Agency priorities of life-work balance have allowed me to continue to grow as a technical leader and enjoy my family.
In the workplace, I have been able to bring light to issues that affect quantum queens by leading efforts to ensure that the challenges women and all caregivers face are recognized and resolved. As a quantum queen, I do this by staying true to my technical roots and, like Taylor, always saving a space for what and who we love.
As Swifties know, with love, there is also heartbreak. Some may read my bio and be impressed, thinking “she made it.” But we quantum queens know otherwise: The bio is just a very small fraction of what has been accomplished given so many female — and caregiver-specific — challenges and disruptors along the way.
The relatively “easy” issues like imposter syndrome, to the unacceptable ones such as sexism and sexual harassment, remain unfortunate realities for us. Surviving as a quantum queen is incredibly challenging and requires persistence, resilience, flexibility, and self-awareness. “Ask me what I learned from all those years…Ask me what I earned from all those tears…Ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here!”
Quantum systems are the foundation of our existence and are the most powerful scientific phenomenon the world will ever experience. I want all quantum queens to not only survive, but to thrive! The world requires it! Long live quantum queens — all the magic we make and our love of science! One day, we will be remembered.
I love it! Very inspiring!