"I'm a high school student in the Midwestern United States, so working women are very familiar to me. My mother works, most of my teachers are women, my doctor is a woman, and so on. The economic gender gap still exists, and I think that many people are aware of it; it's actually something that we talk about at school, so it's an addressed issue. I'm still waiting for the government to do something about it, and it infuriates me that it still exists. I want to earn equal pay for equal work, when I have a career. Here women can work in any profession; one of my favourite things is the Women in STEM movement. The work opportunities for women here are pretty much equal, and I'm very grateful for that.
I'm first generation Indian, and I know that the opportunities there for women are not nearly as plentiful. I know that a lot of girls (especially in poorer areas) don't aim for a career when they grow up, that they only see marriage on the horizon. Girls' education in the developing world is something that I'm really passionate about, because without it, there's virtually no way of breaking the poverty cycle. I want to utilize all the opportunity that I have here to make a change for the girls that don't have that opportunity."
- Prathusha, Michigan, USA