A FEMALE ASTRONAUT COACH SUPPORTS GIRLS IN STEM
Mindy Howard during parabolic flight training.
The international space industry is a male-dominated sector where 20 to 22 percent are women, only 11 percent of the astronauts are female, and 2 percent are non-white. Although she did not receive any encouragement and was ridiculed in the 1970s at her school in New York for her aspiration to become an astronaut, Mindy Howard pursued her dream and works today as an astronaut coach and the founding director of the Netherland-based Inner Space Training. Ms. Howard is one of the 56 women around the world to be the space industry leader and a mentor with the UNSpace4Women Network. She has been supporting young women to overcome test-taking anxiety in STEM fields. Speaking in an expert meeting Space4Woment that was held from 21 to 24 October in Dubai, Howard discussed the importance of women’s role, particularly in leadership and policymaking in the Space industry.
