Women in Science; Jessica Swale; Vatican PR

Available for over a year

Only 13% of all jobs in Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) in the UK are occupied by women. As many students across the country take in their exam results and head to university we talk to Shaleem Grant, soon-to-be student and Anne-Marie Imafidon founder of 'Stemettes' an organisation trying to encourage women to pursue careers in the sciences. With international, military intervention into Syria looking more and more likely by the hour Jenni speaks to Alison Phillips, editor of the Sunday Mirror, currently in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, home to 130,000 Syrian refugees, half of them under 18 years old. We look at how throughout our cultural history, women's sexual organs have often been demonised and rendered obscene. So what does this mean for women's identities and how is this issue addressed in literature and culture? Why the appointment of a 30 year old woman PR consultant to a high profile Vatican commission is causing quite a stir in Rome. So how significant is her appointment and are attitudes to women changing under Pope Francis? And Jessica Swale makes her play-writing debut at the Globe with Blue Stockings. Set in and around Girton College, Cambridge in the 1890s - it's the story of four young women fighting to be allowed to graduate along with their male counterparts. She joins Jenni to discuss her inspiration for the play and why she thinks the issues it raises are as relevant today as they were when it was first produced.