“The most significant point that the iGIANT roundtable brought to my attention is that there is a pervasive lack of awareness regarding many gender/sex-based design elements. Innovation can’t happen if the need isn’t recognized and I believe that iGIANT is in a unique position to both bring attention to existing disparities and help drive technological changes that will benefit both women and men."

Georgetown School of Medicine Faculty Member

“The iGIANT round table allowed me to better understand the ways that systems may unintentionally exclude female bodies and provided a forum to brainstorm solutions to these issues. I appreciated being able to discuss my personal experiences with femininity, specifically in the workplace, while surrounded by empowered women.”

Georgetown University School of Medicine Class of 2021

“The iGIANT roundtable creates a safe space to discuss the issues of gender and sex discrimination that has a strong influence on our career performance in any field including medicine. Before this experience, I always felt the burden of many of the inequalities that exist in this realm but never felt I had the potential to discuss them since many occur unintentionally. However, iGIANT opened my eyes to the notion that these issues would likely never be addressed and fairly dealt with unless I speak up about them.” 

Georgetown University School of Medicine Class of 2021

“The iGIANT session has provided me with the tools to observe and interpret evidence of gender inequality that permeates our everyday lives. In particular, the discrepancies exist just in outright or implicit discrimination, but rather the way in which industry and design favors the male experience. It was also empowering to hear the work iGIANT has done and the changes that have made to impact women’s lives for the better. I also hope to effect change in this manner.”

Georgetown University School of Medicine Class of 2021

“The iGIANT Roundtable has provided me with a new lens to view the word, a lens that emphasizes the intersection between gender and technology. Through listening to and sharing experiences with my colleagues, I have realized how prevalent experiences gender-related challenges are within our daily lives, whether it is in the tools we use, the clothes we wear or the environments in which we learn and work. I will carry this newfound lens with me as a I progress with my education and work experience."

Georgetown University School of Medicine Class of 2021

“Although many issues surrounding sex and gender have recently been brought to the forefront of our conversation, the iGIANT round table opened my eyes to how these issues intersection with consumerism, which is undoubtedly a strong force in our lives. I take this new lens forward with me as I enter the workplace.”

Georgetown University School of Medicine Class of 2021

The iGIANT roundtable has opened my eyes about the contradicting issues associated with gender. It is extremely important to be aware of the matter ourselves and to raise awareness for others so that changes could be made to our system. My next call to action would be communicating with my research manager and talking about the different gender based issues that could be learned about and changed to involve all equally.

Junior - University of CA, Berkeley

Before I attended the iGIANT round table at UC Berkeley, I had no idea how much it would influence how I saw the world. I learned how gender and sex affect every product we use, every task we carry out, and every aspect of our lives. My call to action at the round table was to continue thinking about and seeing through the gender and sex lens. Now, I want to make it a point to apply the iGIANT concepts at every point during my schooling, during my career, and during my life.

Sophomore - University of CA, Berkeley

I really enjoyed the roundtable because I felt that we were all able to have discussions about our own experiences and background. Also, I liked that we were able to learn through each other and could continue conversations after the roundtable. My call to action is to spread awareness through other organizations I am a part of!

Sophomore - University of CA, Berkeley

I absolutely loved the iGIANT Scholars Program, and am truly inspired by the other students who shared their experiences. One particular issue I've noticed as an EMT is the lack of both public knowledge and healthcare professional knowledge in the symptoms of heart attack in women as well as heart disease in women. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the U.S., albeit more men being diagnosed with heart disease. This is likely because of healthcare professionals unable to note differing symptomatic presentation of aforementioned diseases in women, as well as the inability of the general public to identify when a woman is having a heart attack. Our call to action is to educate others and change the healthcare education system.

Sophomore - University of CA, Berkeley

I have been playing the piano my entire life, and my hands have always been too small to play some of the more advanced pieces that include large chords. As a result, my piano teacher and I are forced to eliminate some notes from either the top or bottom of the chord in order to play the pieces. My hands are not abnormally small; they are a pretty standard size for most women. I propose that we redesign the piano keys to accommodate for this difference. Perhaps, we can make the size of each key narrower? Also, during piano competitions, many men and women are scored according to the same scale. However, women naturally have less strength in their forearms and hands and thus must press down with much more force than the average man in order to produce a similar intensity of sound. Maybe this sort of stress can cause long-term medical effects?

Sophomore - University of CA, Berkeley

The roundtable made me aware that I was not the only person to suffer from imprecise dosing of prescription medications due to gender bias. My call to action is to continue to be on the alert for disparities in things like medicine and scientific safety equipment that may be due to gender bias.

Sophomore - University of CA, Berkeley

Being at the iGIANT roundtable was incredibly inspiring and eye-opening because it gave everyone a chance to stop for a moment and reflect on the all the different technologies and practices in our lives that are so ordinarily accepted but could be vastly improved by taking gender and sex into account. As someone who is interested in medicine, I know that I will take what I learned during iGIANT and apply it to my research to make sure that clinical trials and medicine dosing is distinguished based on sex in order to maximize efficiency and minimize side-effects for both men and women.

Freshman - University of CA, Berkeley

iGIANT made me realize that I am not alone in my fight for gender equality. Witnessing first hand the power of our voices, I am confident that we can be the ones that revolutionize innovation for all.

Junior - University of CA, Berkeley

I loved hearing everyone else's concerns and things they have noticed in their lives that are engineered BY men FOR men. I personally shared about how I feel that most physical therapy programs for rehabilitation of ACL tears is structured around a male body. As a female, I think my physical therapists often tried to make me look like my male counterparts in therapy without considering factors such as hip and pelvic alignment and how that would play a role in how my squats, jumps and lunges look. My call to action was to discuss this with my physical therapists and make it clear to them that it isn't because I'm unathletic its just because my body doesn't move that way.

Sophomore - University of CA, Berkeley

Before this roundtable event, I hadn't realized that these issues about gender/sex innovation span different aspects: from healthcare, to fashion, to being behind-the-wheel. Let's continue to have these conversations with those of any profession and promote an awareness for change!

Junior - University of CA, Berkeley