Why a musical on Rosalind Franklin is set to become an important story in the history of female STEM pioneers

In 1953, chemist Rosalind Franklin sat in the wings as fellow scientists James Watson and Francis Crick collected the Nobel Prize for discovering the double helix DNA structure, despite Franklin’s X-Ray images and research providing the foundation for their discovery.

70 years later, while scientists are still debating Rosalind’s participation, someone who is sold about her story is lyricist and composer Madeline Myers who became interested in the chemist’s work.

Myers said: “I just thought it was the most explosive, dramatic, thrilling, emotional thing I had ever heard,” as she moved Rosalind from the wings to centre stage in New York’s Sag Harbour last week when ‘Double Helix’ opened. Rosalind has been represented on stage this side of the pond once before when Nicole Kidman took on the role in Photograph 51.

Nevertheless, the move to bring one of history’s leading female STEM pioneers back to the forefront is so important in 2023 as other large companies look to highlight women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Rosalind Franklin’s well-deserved spotlight, albeit 70 years too late, comes as women make up approximately one quarter of the STEM workforce in the UK - a huge increase from the total number four years ago.

The total surpassed the one million mark for the first time last year giving girls a whole new range of people to not only look up to as role models but to also connect to; something that Mattel’s Barbie has been working on for the past several years with their Inspiring Women and Fashionista series.

In addition to releasing dolls that have varied disabilities and body types promoted by the likes of Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri and model Ellie Goldstein, Barbie created dolls honouring seven current female leaders in STEM.

Lisa McKnight, executive vice president and global head of Barbie and Dolls, said: "STEM is a field where women are severely underrepresented, and our hope is that honouring these seven leaders in science and technology will encourage girls to follow their passion in this field."

With Barbie’s efforts and Rosalind Franklin’s life being shown in ‘Double Helix’, hopefully the unwritten double standards for women in STEM are diminished further.