For All Humankind
During a brainstorming session to imagine a helmet for moon-cave exploration, an early-career female engineer goes to extreme lengths to break into the boys’ club.
2026 Special Engagement
Womanhood: The Series
Sunday, November 8, 2026 2:00 PM | John D. Spreckels Hospitality Center
Q&A with Jessica McGaugh, Cat Dale, Dr. Svasti Haricharan, Gena Sbeglia, Sandra Maas, and Tracy Nguyen will follow the screening.
Reserve Your Seat
Badge holders: Remember to sign in before selecting your reservation so it can be added to your badge.
“Sure, the line for the women’s bathroom is shorter, but we’d rather have a seat at the table.”
The Project
Womanhood: The Series, Season 2 is an original anthology film series aimed at inspiring women and girls to overcome the ongoing gender disparity in STEM classrooms and workplaces. The outcome will be five short films used as discussion tools to explore cultural attitudes and biases that hinder women’s advancement in STEM fields.
Using comedy to highlight social injustices and biases, this project offers a unique storytelling approach that has already proven impactful. Season 1 received eight awards and over 55 international film festival acceptances, demonstrating that audiences want to see high-quality content with female leads and stories about women.
This groundbreaking project fosters collaboration between two traditionally separate fields—filmmaking and STEM—bringing filmmakers and STEM professionals together to tell stories that help dismantle structural barriers in STEM careers. By working side-by-side, we aim to generate fresh perspectives and promote inclusive representation of women in science and technology.
Five Stories. One Conversation.
Cellular
Drowning in service work and trapped in the cutthroat world of publish or perish, a professor fights for what is rightfully hers—five uninterrupted minutes with the microscope.
ScienTITS
A mechanical engineer seeks a solution to a new problem: using a breast pump at work.
Dress Code
A curly-haired Latina scientist struggles to be herself while dressing the part for a new position at a traditional research institution. Will she go bland or go bold?
There’s Something About Her
When a candidate with an invisible disability applies for a tenure-track game-design faculty position, she must tackle the real demons who come to life in the interview room.
Filmmakers & STEM Professionals
Meet the Women
Jessica McGaugh
Writer, Director, Producer
Jessica McGaugh is an independent filmmaker whose artistic practice explores stigma, silence, and taboo through intimate, emotionally charged storytelling. Her films are designed to disrupt silence and open conversation, often using humor to approach experiences shaped by discomfort, vulnerability, and shame. Her award-winning work ranges from comedies about menstruation to documentaries about multicultural dancers, and has screened across the globe, including the San Diego Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival, Mumbai International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, NDTV, and Rocky Mountain PBS. Jessica’s feature films Red Pearl and Three Worlds, One Stage are available through Apple TV, Amazon, Roku, Vudu, and Walmart. Jessica is a hybrid filmmaker-educator and a professor of film and television production at San Diego State University. She is the writer, director, and producer of the Womanhood: The Series episode titled Cellular.
Cat Dale
Writer & Filmmaker
Cat Dale is a writer and filmmaker whose narrative work examines institutional trauma and gendered cultural perceptions. Her scripts include Mount Pleasant, winner of the ScreenCraft Pilot Launch, a featured script on The Black List, and a second-round selection for the Sundance Institute Episodic Lab. She also co-wrote Beasts Undiscovered, a quarterfinalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and a project developed with Myriad Pictures and Orbital Studios. Dale is an Associate Professor at Montana State University, where she teaches film production and screenwriting. She is the writer, director, and producer of the Womanhood: The Series episode titled ScienTITS.
Dr. Svasti Haricharan
Molecular and Human Genetics
Dr. Haricharan received her BSc in Zoology from Stella Maris College, India, in 2004, her MSc in Molecular and Human Genetics from the University of Leicester, UK, in 2005, and her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Haricharan started her independent lab, focused on the roles of DNA repair proteins in promoting treatment responsiveness, at Sanford Burnham Prebys in La Jolla in 2018. She is an Associate Professor of Biology at SDSU and a Full Member of the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD.
Gena Sbeglia
Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology at SDSU
Gena Sbeglia, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biology at San Diego State University and a member of the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education. Her research focuses on how cognitive, psychosocial, and classroom factors shape undergraduate biology learning—particularly students’ understanding and acceptance of evolution. Through her Biology Education Research Lab, she develops evidence-based, inclusive teaching practices and rigorous tools for assessing student learning, persistence, and equity in the biological sciences.
Sandra Maas
Emmy Award-Winning Journalist and Storyteller
Sandra Maas is an Emmy Award–winning broadcast journalist, storyteller, and advocate whose career has been driven by one powerful belief: stories can inform, challenge, and inspire change. For decades, Sandra has connected with audiences across San Diego through television and radio, using her voice to shine a light on the issues and people who matter. Her commitment to storytelling extends beyond the newsroom, most notably through her advocacy for pay equity and women’s rights.
Today, as a trustee of the San Diego History Center, Sandra is helping shape the future of women’s history in San Diego. She is a driving force behind the creation of the new Center for Women’s History Gallery in Balboa Park, a groundbreaking space dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and amplifying the stories of women who helped shape our region and our world.
For Sandra, it is more than preserving history. It is about making sure women’s stories are seen, heard, valued, and never forgotten.
Tracy Nguyen
Optometrist and President of the Society of Women Engineers
Driven by purpose and passion, I am committed to breaking barriers and building bridges in STEM, especially for girls and underrepresented communities. An optometrist and active leader within the Society of Women Engineers, I aim to inspire the next generation of innovators through mentorship, outreach, and inclusive leadership.