Science students break down gender barriers

"I think girls of my generation may have more self-awareness about what we want to become in the future," Zhang Shulei, 17, from Shanghai Yichuan Middle School, said.

Zhang won the "Best Scientific Practice and Work" award under the "For Girls in Science" program.

"If I make up my mind to pursue scientific research in the future, then I will just keep going," she said. "I will be determined and assertive."

Wang Hui, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, called for an end to stereotyping.

"The image of female scientists is unfair and untrue," she said.

"Some girls have seen the potential of becoming researchers and are cultivating their interests."