Inspirational talk given to young female science students as part of the 3rd Annual OxFest Symposium 2014 - "WHY SO SLOW? Closing the gender gap in STEM" Thursday 27th February 2014 OxFEST (Oxford Females in Engineering, Science and Technology) is an Oxford University society founded in 2005. Its initial vision was to promote and support women working in engineering and scientific disciplines within the university and its associated institutes. Professor Jackie Hunter is the chief executive of the BBSRC and has over 30 years experience in the bioscience research sector, working across academia and industry and playing a key role in innovative collaborations and partnerships. She holds a personal chair from St George's Hospital Medical School, which was awarded in recognition of her contribution to bioscience research. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/