Our Vision
To create a place for women to connect together and to support each other.
My name is Meagan Parker and I am the creator of Women of Physics. This website is dedicated to those women who feel alone. The women who are so determined they are too scared to ask for help as they fear might look weak. To the women who want to get involved and change the world but do not know what questions they should be asking.
I have found that in all steps of my career I could never find the answers I was looking for. Questions like: What does it mean to be a professional? What can I do with this degree? Why are there so few women in STEM fields? Is it okay to feel so depressed sometimes? Is physics worth it?
After a long fought journey I finally realized to stop fighting the person I am. To align my life with what makes me happy. I was lucky to have several amazing people step into my life and help me discover not only who I am, but that it is okay to be me. They helped me set up goals to change my life for the better. This helped get me out of my depressed state and opened up the world to me.
I hope women of all walks of life can find this website and find the answers they are looking for. I will try and provide articles, links, and ways to connect to others that have a similar vision. I want to help in anyway I can as everyone has a story and I want to help them rewrite it with their own pen.
Nisi Whisler Sorge
Co-Founder, Mentor, Wayfinder (metaphorically speaking).
Nisi at Science Saturday at Weber State University , July 2019.
Hi! I’m Nisi Whisler Sorge, and my journey through the field of physics thus far has been exciting, challenging, difficult, rewarding and the rest of the spectrum of human emotion. When learning to examine the concepts and realities that are the literal foundations of the world around us, introspection also occurs.
What makes me, me? What can I still learn at the age of 40? Am I too old? Am I too saturated in domestic responsibilities? Why is my family’s approval so important to me? Is it helping or hurting me? Do I really understand what I’m doing? Do I really understand what I’m learning? What is my ultimate goal? What do I WANT to DO with all this learning and investment of time, sweat, and tears? and finally, Why is this taking so long?
It’s been so difficult to still be in school, nearly 10 years since I started. Going part time is very, very hard. Seeing my classmates graduate and move on, while I’m still here has been painful at times. But I am understanding that normal isn’t really normal. And traditional isn’t either. And I’m on my own voyage. I travel with other people I encounter for a while, but as a mother, a wife, and a woman with dreams, goals and extremely limited time, I must go slowly to be successful.
And this is a lesson and a state of being that both the field of physics and myself must learn: not every person will do great things because they went to school and graduated in 4 years. Non-traditional is the new black and this field, the field of physics must understand and accept this if it wishes to survive and continue contributing to the world as it has. I am here to do my part in making that happen, and to help every other woman I meet to do it too. It’s hard, it hurts, and damn it, carving out a place in a field that has long been dominated by men is taking more TNT than chisels. But, it is happening. Now. And I’m not going anywhere. I am here for you. To listen. To help. To support. To just accompany you on your voyage for a while. But you are not alone. I am happy to be with you.
Meagan Parker
Founder, Mentor.