International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Gender inequality persists and pervades society; particularly in fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) all over the world. Even though there has been progress to closing the gap, women and gender-diverse persons are still under-represented in these fields.

Did you know? (from the United Nations website)

• Women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of national science academies are women.
• In cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman.
• Despite a shortage of skills in most of the technological fields driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics.
• Female researchers tend to have shorter, less well-paid careers. Their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals and they are often passed over for promotion.

Saturday 11th Feb is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGIS). Set up by the United Nations in 2013, it promotes the full and equal access and participation of females in STEM. Following suit, we are celebrating as well by shining a spotlight on some of the amazing women scientists in SONICOM. Katarina, Areti, Evangelina, and Katharina share their becoming-a-scientist story; challenges, memorable moments, and where they see women in STEM today.

Read their stories ???