Mrs Hascher teaches MYP Science and Maths, and DP Physics, having joined SIS in 2011. From an early age, Mrs Hascher had a passion for mathematics and physics, and she found that the two subjects came intuitively to her. However, during her time in high school, Mrs Hascher had a very mean and even sexist physics teacher. This was a greatly discouraging experience as the girls in his class were reminded daily that, “women or girls cannot do physics.” In fact, when they graduated, he addressed the girls in the class, telling them, “I hope none of you will go and study physics.” This negativity expressed by her physics teacher resulted in Mrs Hascher hesitating to pursue the subjects she was passionate about, and applying instead to study psychology at university. However, she quickly realised that the subject was not her cup of tea, “it was not an exact enough science”. 

Then, upon going out to the movies with some friends, Mrs Hascher faced an Eureka moment. Watching the movie Contact, based on Carl Sagan’s novel, led her to discover how strong her passion for physics is and become certain that it was what she wanted to do. Once she began studying physics at university, Mrs Hascher decided to lean towards theoretical physics, with a particular focus on astrophysics as she found the stars and the universe the most attractive branch. Looking back, she recognises that, “it’s a tough crowd. You need to be the type of woman that can be around men.” Thankfully, her parents were supportive of her choices, and she developed a new connection with her aunt, who was a maths and physics teacher. 

This support eventually led to her work with the European Space Agency in the department of education, focusing on all sciences. During her time there, she worked to organise conferences for international teachers along with five of the largest research institutions like ESA and CERN. Mrs Hascher is extremely proud to have been accepted and to have worked for one and a half years in such a wonderful environment, filled with scientific minds. 

Mrs Hascher decided to move towards this educational environment and began teaching in her hometown, Basel. We are all very happy and grateful for her work at SIS and for her role as an empowering woman in STEM.