Akshata Murty has revealed that she was inspired to encourage more women to study science by her own mother, who “broke the mould” as the only female engineer at her company in the 1970s.
In her first ever article, Ms Murty – who features in The Independent’s list of most influential women – also says that she hopes her own daughters also grow up to “think about new frontiers”.
Rishi Sunak has called for all pupils to study some form of maths until the age of 18, saying that will leave them equipped “for the jobs of the future”.
In an echo of those sentiments, Ms Murty writes in The Independent that “if we continue to invest in science and innovation, Britain can lead the world into the technological age.”
Last month she joined a reception at Downing Street to meet young women and men celebrating the launch of the Future Talent Program.
Akshata Murty says she hopes her daughters grow up to “think about new frontiers”
The scheme, led by the British Beauty Council, introduces secondary school pupils to the wide variety of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers available within the beauty industry.
None of the “brightest British success stories” in the sector, from Dame Anita Roddick’s Body Shop to Charlotte Tilbury’s cosmetics “could have come into existence without a strong foundation in science, manufacturing and technological innovation – and the passion and determination of their creators,” writes Ms Murty.
Her mother’s story started in India in the late 1960s, where she was the only female student at her university. There she “chose to break the mould and study a STEM subject simply because it was her passion”.
STEM allowed her mother “to push boundaries both academically and professionally, and gave her a ringside seat to the technological revolution”.
Later, she recalls: “my mother began her career in the 1970s as the only female engineer at her company.”
Ms Murty adds: “So we need to celebrate women studying and achieving in STEM, and encourage more to take it up.
“On this International Women’s Day, I look to my young daughters and hope they too are inspired by their grandmother to think about new frontiers, to reimagine a world built on STEM innovation and to pursue their own passions.
“I wonder what stories they’ll be telling over the next 50 years – I hope the one about a young woman studying engineering in 1960s India sticks with them.”
