You Belong Here: Confidence in STEM Isn't Optional, It's Power

There’s something about walking into a room full of people who don’t expect you to be there.

The silence. The second glances. The way your presence shifts the air, even before you’ve said a word. I’ve been there more times than I can count. And for a long time, I thought I had to shrink to survive it. Keep my head down. Don’t stand out too much. Don’t wear that. Don’t speak too soon. Don’t correct anyone, even when they’re wrong.

But the truth is, confidence in STEM isn’t optional. It’s necessary.

And I don’t mean loud confidence. Not the kind that performs. I mean quiet, grounded, earned confidence. The kind that says, “I may not know everything, but I know what I know. I’ve done the work. I deserve to be here.”

This space wasn’t built with us in mind. But that doesn’t mean we don’t belong in it. It means we’re rebuilding it every time we show up as ourselves.

Confidence looks different depending on the day. Some days, it’s speaking up in a meeting. Other days, it’s just making it through the door. Sometimes it’s wearing your twist-out and lip gloss to a site visit. Sometimes it’s emailing that question you were too afraid to ask out loud.

This blog, this brand, this entire platform—it's here to remind you that your confidence doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. It just has to be yours.

You don’t need permission. You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to code your way through the day just to prove your worth.

You belong here. Period.

Ruthie