Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day to celebrate and recognise the achievements of women and girls across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines around the world.
A significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels in STEM disciplines. Even though women have made tremendous progress, they are still under-represented in these fields.
Science and gender equality are vital for achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past decades, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science.
In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the United Nations General Assembly declared 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in 2015.
Did you know?
- 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.
The following video from UNESCO features several female innovators who prove that all people can make a contribution to science and technology. Sharing their experiences, these accomplished women send a strong message of empowerment for new generations of women and girls in the fields of science and technology.