Netflix Star Mika Abdalla Puts Smart Females on the Pedestal They Deserve

Mika Abdalla, the 16-year-old star of Netflix's Emmy-nominated Project MC2, is a bit of a math superstar in real life. "I've always just really been very, very into math. Like I did algebra II and geometry the same year. I finished all my math my sophomore year of high school," Mika said.

Growing up and finding her strength in mathematics, she says she wasn't teased for being smart but rather didn't have many people to relate to. "I didn't feel like there were as many girls that were into math," Mika said. "And if they were, they definitely didn't embrace it, and I definitely didn't know about it!" Mika came on Pretty Unfiltered to help other females embrace their passions, especially in fields like science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics — or STEAM, as it's referred to on the show. "If girls can be fashion designers, and girls can be makeup artists, then why can't a girl be a scientist? Why can't a girl be an engineer? Why can't a girl be a mathematician?"

She explained that these fields are made up mostly of men because of the way people have generalized those industries. "I feel like women feel like they can't really express themselves in those fields, like in math and science, without feeling less feminine, or feeling like it's not very cute," Mika said.