Insight to Action: On the tension of “firsts”
Watching Christina Koch, 47, step into yet another record-breaking chapter lit something in me. I even created a LinkedIn carousel celebrating her achievements. View the LinkedIn post here.
I love celebrating women in STEM. Especially when so many have been written out of history. View 9 lost women in the history of STEM here.
Discomfort.
Because we are still celebrating firsts.
And Victor Glover, Artemis II Pilot, captured that tension perfectly:
“I live in this tension… I love that young girls and boys can see themselves in us… and I also hope we are pushing in the other direction of one day we don’t have to talk about these firsts. One day it will be the story of humanity… not black history… but human history.”
One question
What is one time in your life when you were the only or the first?
One insight
14 years ago, I was the first pregnant postdoc in our research institute. Being the first opened up the gateway and made it easier for others to follow (and they did).
Being the first matters, and it also came at a cost.
It asks for more time, energy, visibility, advocacy, resilience….
You’re not just doing the role, you’re carrying the weight of what it represents.
That’s why this message from Mercedes-Benz stopped me:
“What if we don’t have to be exceptional, the first, the best, or the only woman?
What if being a female engineer wasn’t remarkable… and we were treated as equals?
I don’t want to make history.
I don’t want to be the only woman.
I want to be one of many.”
One action
Acknowledge where you have been “the first” not just as a badge of honour, but for the weight you carried.
Then ask yourself:
Where am I still over-performing to justify my place?
And what would it look like to belong here without proving?
Keep opening up,
Hannah
P.S. When you’re ready:
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