Equity and inclusion: these are the cornerstones for breaking the prejudices and obstacles at the origin of the gap that still exists in the world of research, where men are still in the clear majority.
Closing the gap is the goal that led the United Nations Organization to establish the World Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February seven years ago.
It is equally important to overcome the social conditionings that still keep many girls away from scientific studies.
Although the number of female researchers is progressively increasing, today as in 2015, gender equality in the world of research is a goal that still requires a lot of work.
Even today, the UN notes on the website dedicated to the Day, women are 33.3% of researchers and only 12% are present in scientific academies.
It is a disparity that also appears in the future, considering how little women are represented in emerging sectors, such as artificial intelligence, where only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman, and there are still very few women who graduates in engineering (28%) and computer science (40%).
It is also a widespread problem in Italy, where only 16% of girls graduate from science faculties compared to 37% of boys.
There are hundreds of events scheduled all over the world and there are also numerous appointments in Italy, both face-to-face and online.
Among the initiatives for the day is' Y 4 X ', the international campaign in which men and boys are asked to take the field against stereotypes and' toxic 'behaviors that fuel discrimination, and continues with' One- Billion Voices for Research & Development ', the great online meeting whose goal is to raise awareness of gender equality issues, up to' Writing Science in Braille ', against discrimination of visually impaired researchers.
In view of the day, the two winners, Gaia Giannone and Stefania Morganti, of the research grants dedicated to the oncologist Gianni Bonadonna were presented, in an initiative organized by the Bonadonna Foundation with the support of the Prada Group and the Airc Foundation.
The reference site of the Day is the official one www.womeninscienceday.org and there are dozens of initiatives also in Italy to try to raise awareness on the subject, such as "ResearcHER - Prospettive di Scienza", organized by the University of L'Aquila and Gran Sasso Science Institute (Gssi ) by institutions and research centers, such as those of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Ingv), the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn), the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (Ispra) and the National Research Council ( Cnr), and many others organized by associations, such as 'She is a Scientist', and universities, with online meetings and discussions on the issues of inequality.
