From sitcom references to real-world career paths - young women at Catholic College Wodonga were inspired to enter the world of science on Thursday.
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To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Border school hosted a breakfast with a number of local female scientists who spoke to a selection of interested female students.
The guest speakers included La Trobe University biomedical science senior lecturer Cathryn Hogarth who spoke of why more women are needed in a male-dominated science industry.
"I was asked to present on why girls need science and why science need girls," she said.
"And I really tried to highlight different reasons why science benefits from more women and that is because there is still a gender unbalance in science both from the studies we do but also because science needs a women's perspective.
"Science provides skills they will use for the rest of their lives, it helps them become life long learners and because it is fun." Dr Hogarth, who does a lot of research within the reproductive fertility space, said females bring a different perspective to different medical issues.
"It creates a really diverse look, a really great example of this is with research in fertility and treating infertile couples," she said.
"At the moment all of those procedures are directed towards the woman, even if she her reproductively healthy it's her that undergoes the treatment not the male partner.
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"That is where a woman's perspective becomes really really important in trying to diversify treatment for disease as well as understanding that women experience disease in different ways.
"It is vitally important to get more girls into the science industry."
Year 11 students Isabelle Smyth and Tafadzwa Mutape were among the students who elected to be involved in the day and said they were hoping to get more career insights from the guest speakers.
"I would like to be a midwife or go into nursing so I thought this would be a really good opportunity to see where I can go and if there is anything else I can learn in science or more I can be doing," Isabelle said.
"Cathryn's presentation taught me that women need to step up and do what they really want to do and not stick to the gender stereotypes."
Tafadzwa is hoping to study medicine or pharmacy after she finishes her high school studies.
The students got to ask questions of each guest speaker and were asked to present a piece of research that interests them.
