The International Day of Women and Girls in Science

11 febrero, 2021

Actualidad planetaria, ECOGENIOSNo Comments

From Marisela Valero @lavalero

On 22 December 2015, the General Assembly decided to establish an annual International Day to recognize the critical role women and girls play in science and technology, through Resolution A/RES/70/212.

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated on 11 February, is implemented by UNESCO and UN-Women, in collaboration with institutions and civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science.

This Day is an opportunity to promote full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. Gender equality is a global priority for UNESCO, and the support of young girls, their education and their full ability to make their ideas heard are levers for development and peace.

‘Hidden Figures’: How Black Women Did The Math That Put Men On The Moon

Margot Lee Shetterly, from her book  Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race.

Here the podcast with de Margot Lee Shetterly interview, from npr.org in 2016.

A lot of the women, period, felt that. They had a lot of different identities in addition to being professional mathematicians at NASA. They were mothers, they were wives, they were people who were active in their church, in their community. So this was only one aspect of their identity.

It was «women’s work.» I mean the engineers were the men and the women were the mathematicians or the computers. The men designed the research and did the manly stuff and the women did the calculations, you know, at the behest of the engineers.

And so, I think that it really does have to do with us over the course of time sort of not valuing that work that was done by women, however necessary, as much as we might. And it has taken history to get a perspective on that.

Tackling some of the greatest challenges of the Agenda for Sustainable Development — from improving health to combating climate change — will rely on harnessing all talent. That means getting more women working in these fields. Diversity in research expands the pool of talented researchers, bringing in fresh perspectives, talent and creativity. This Day is a reminder that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened.

More about girls and women in science and ecology

Since its establishment by the UN General Assembly on 22 December 2015, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science aims at raising awareness on the issue celebrating women’s excellence in science and reminding the international community that science and gender equality have to advance hand-in-hand to address major global challenges and achieve all the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated the critical role of women researchers in different stages of the fight against COVID-19, from advancing the knowledge on the virus to developing technics for testing and finally the vaccine against the virus.

At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic also had a significant negative impact on woman scientists, particularly affecting those at early-career stages, and thus contributing to widening the existing gender gap in science, and revealing the gender disparities in the scientific system, which need to be addressed by new policies, initiatives and mechanisms to support woman and girls in science.

#WomenInScience  #ecogeniusyouth

References https://www.npr.org/2016/09/25/495179824/hidden-figures-how-black-women-did-the-math-that-put-men-on-the-moon