Women supporting women around the world
A cup of tea served at the WMC massage center ‘by women ex prisoners’ in Chiang Mai Thailand [1, 2] (Photo credit: P.A. Maurice)
As senior women leaders in STEMM we know we are stronger together — we all benefit when we support one another. But this is also true when we support women outside of STEMM, including women whose paths we cross in our everyday lives or when traveling.
By Patricia A. Maurice and Janet G. Hering
12 May 2026, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20034032
One major theme of this blog has been how fortunate we are to be senior women leaders in STEMM. To rise to the level of senior leader in STEMM, each woman must be gifted, talented, and hard working. Our gifts are in our intellects and our personalities – including perseverance, determination, patience, and passion for our vocations. We have each also been given the gift of opportunity made possible by our circumstances of birth and upbringing and by strong women who paved the way and broken glass ceilings. Plus, we must not forget the many male allies who have supported women on our journeys [3-6].
Another major blog theme has been how important it is for women to support one another. Given that many barriers to women’s accomplishments still exist, we need to lift one another up, to rejoice in each other’s successes, and to offer help and support when one of us stumbles or is deliberately knocked down. We have written about how important it is to support – and learn from – women colleagues in other disciplines, such as in the humanities and arts [7], as well as from women working outside academia [8].
Membership societies that promote women in STEMM, such as the Association for Women in Science (AWIS, [9]), the Society of Women Engineers (SWE, [10], and 500 Women Scientists [11] as well as many more organizations and dedicated sections within professional associations deserve both our financial support and volunteer engagement. We are sure that many of our readers are members of such organizations.
This need for women to support one another goes far beyond STEMM and indeed beyond our careers. It’s something many of us probably try to practice throughout our day-to-day lives. As discussed in our review of Melinda French Gates’ book The Moment of Lift [12], empowering women empowers entire communities. Melinda French Gates has been at the forefront of women leaders in philanthropy.
A 2025 report titled Women and Philanthropy: A literature Review [13] by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute concluded that, in the US: “Women’s philanthropy has become more visible, values-driven, and responsive to social and political events,” and that “Women are giving more frequently and across a wider range of causes, with strong emphasis on health, justice, and inclusivity.” Moreover, “As donors, volunteers, and leaders, women are using their philanthropic voice to drive social change and foster community.” These are all important trends.
This report deals with formal philanthropy, but the “power of the purse” can be harnessed in other ways to help women. Indeed, everywhere we go, we look for opportunities to help other women – especially women who are marginalized. We’re sure many of our readers do the same.
Recently, while traveling in Chiang Mai Thailand, Patricia stumbled upon a program that helps lift women out of one of the deepest and darkest life circumstances — women serving time in prison and ex-prisoners. The Women’s Massage Centers (WMC) employs women ex-prisoners in several massage centers around Chiang Mai’s historic old town [2]. Stories of this and other programs can also be found on the web pages of the United Nations World Tourism Organization UNWTO, whose mission is to promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism [14]. In the Chiang Mai example, the programs provide not only massage training but also help women find employment after their release from prison.
Patricia was fortunate to avail herself of a massage and was happy to find that it helped ease (at least for a time) the chronic pain experienced from decades of geologic and hydrologic field work. We certainly hope the masseuse is benefiting from her employment.
Of course, getting a massage is a very small thing and provides benefit to the client. It’s nothing to crow about. And, of course, we have seen many other programs to support women both at home and in our travels. We admire our colleagues like Ilene Sheffer [15] and Tracy Kijewski-Correa [16] who have worked extremely hard, even at personal risk, to do good for those in need around the world.
Many women in STEMM travel as part of our work or leisure; we should look for ways to put our travel dollars to work for the good of women. Even the smallest contribution can help. The “power of the purse” should not be forgotten. Travel and tourism currently (as of 2025) constitute about 9.8 % of global GDP and support about 1 in 9 jobs globally [17]. These are massive numbers; how we spend our tourism and travel dollars is important.
According to the UN, “Women are the motors of tourism. Both as travellers and workers, women drive the sector forward and represent a huge and growing market. Yet women still earn on average 15% less than men and are underrepresented in boardrooms and governments across the world.” In 2025, globally only 30% of tourism ministers were women; just 0% in South Asia and 10% in East Asia and the Pacific [14].
Any woman who has a career in STEMM has been incredibly fortunate. Whenever we can use our talents, our positions, and the gifts we enjoy to help others, we are ultimately helping ourselves. None of us can know what tomorrow will bring. We can only hope that if our lives should take a major turn for the worse, we will find the strength other women around the world have found to pull themselves up. Getting a glimpse of other women’s courage and resilience is itself a gift.
Questions for further thought
· What organizations for women do you, personally, support?
· Do you look for ways to help support women whenever you travel?
· What more can women in STEMM do to help women outside of our disciplines?
Notes and references
[1] This post does not constitute a formal endorsement of WMC massage by ex-prisoners although we are always in principle supportive of organizations that help support women in need.
[2] https://dignitynetwork.org/pdf/tourism-stories-2017.pdf (Accessed November 13, 2025).
[3] https://www.epistimi.org/blog/equity-for-women-in-stemm-academics-as-a-strategic-priority
[6] https://www.epistimi.org/blog/allies-for-women-leaders-in-stemm-thoughts-from-an-unabashed-optimist
[7] https://www.epistimi.org/blog/what-we-can-learn-from-the-guerrilla-girls-the-art-of-behaving-badly
[8] https://www.epistimi.org/blog/the-leadership-experience-in-environmental-consulting
[9] Association for Women in Science, https://awis.org/ (Accessed May 4, 2026).
[10] Society of Women Engineers, https://swe.org/ (Accessed May 4, 2026).
[11] 500 Women Scientists, https://500womenscientists.org/ (Accessed May 4, 2026).
[12] https://www.epistimi.org/blog/the-moment-of-lift-by-melinda-gates
[13] https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/news-events/news/_news/2025/decade-of-womens-giving-lit-review-2025.html (Accessed May 1, 2026).
[14] https://www.untourism.int/women-empowerment-tourism (Accessed May 1, 2026).
[17] https://wttc.org/research/economic-impact (Accessed May 1, 2026).