The UN has adopted celebration of International Days as an effective tool for promotion of global awareness on issues of international importance. Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls are some of the core issues for the United Nations and on the 22nd of December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution according to which 11th February has been declared as International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Some excerpts from the Resolution are as follows: Recognizing that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened. To celebrate the scientific and technological community\u2019s vital contribution to sustainable development, as well as supporting the empowerment, involvement, and contribution of women and girls in science, technology, and innovation; \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 Decides to proclaim 11 February of each year the International Day of Women and Girls in Science; Invites all Member States, all organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, the private sector and academia, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to observe the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in an appropriate manner, including through education and public awareness-raising activities, in order to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in education, training, employment and decision-making processes in the sciences, eliminate all discrimination against women, including in the field of education and employment, and overcome legal, economic, social and cultural barriers thereto by, inter alia, encouraging the development of science education policies and programming, including school curricula, as appropriate, to encourage greater participation of women and girls, promote career development for women in science and recognize the achievements of women in science; Invites the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and UN-Women, mindful of the provisions contained in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1980\/67, to work together to facilitate the implementation of the International Day in collaboration with all relevant organizations already involved in the promotion of women and girls in science\u2026
A day such as this, on which the importance of participation of women in science is globally celebrated gives the opportunity to analyse some of the typical challenges faced by women scientists and identify the solutions, so that women can fully participate and excel in scientific research.
Whether it is the global or the Indian scenario, a significant gender gap has persisted over the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. It is an unfortunate reality that girls do not hesitate to pursue studies in sciences and they achieve high academic excellence, but thereafter, only few women are able to achieve professional excellence as scientists. Let us analyse why this happens. The research profession is globally competitive and requires high levels of involvement. Unfortunately, since this profession is somewhat elusive, the demands of scientific research and the amount of professional dedication required are not well recognized and therefore do not receive much social sympathy. Just as an example, for any individual to pursue an independent research career, one has to have a PhD degree, and preferably have some post-doctoral research experience. This requires a total minimum period of 7-8 years after completing the masters\u2019 programme. However, for women, this period usually coincides with the childbearing and nurturing period, and therefore there is a pressure to start a family at this same time. Thus there is a clash of professional requirements and personal or social expectations which are almost antagonistic to each other, not always due to discrimination, but also as a result of consequences. Women scientists sometimes become victims of a situation in which they are considered as less dedicated professionals at the workplace, and as selfish in the social space and in order to avoid this, many women scientists often have to lead lifetimes of secret \u2018balancing acts\u2019, trying to manage both home and profession. Dichotomy of demands and unnatural expectations weigh heavily upon many and compounded with several other problems ultimately lead to a situation where there are a number of women who are trained towards scientific research but are often not in a position to join the profession, and even if they do, they are unable to excel. Continuous efforts are being made in India and world-over in order to improve the participation of women in scientific research. In India, policies have been introduced by the government through agencies such as the UGC, DST and DBT to help women pursue their scientific careers more effectively, through different women centric policies.
With intense intervention both nationally and internationally, participation of women and girls in science may increase, but it is desired that women do not merely participate, but excel in scientific research. Unfortunately, policy intervention alone cannot lead to excellence. This requires attitudinal changes and beliefs so that women approach scientific research with an intention to excel.
So, what do girls who approach a career in scientific research need, in order to excel professionally? One suggestion could be a conscious and collective effort to train young girls to accept and anticipate both professional as well as familial requirements of the future so that they are not unprepared for life\u2019s challenges. Discussions and deliberations on career planning and management should be realistic, explaining that personal life and career are not mutually exclusive. Navigating a personal life is as challenging and difficult as a professional career and learning of necessary skills is important. Again, a successful career in scientific research is much more than good academic training and requires independent thinking capacity, good leadership qualities and networking skills.
Therefore, necessary personality traits need to be identified and developed. When life is seen as a whole and different aspects of life are seen as a continuum, then a career in scientific research will not seem as daunting and each girl in science will feel excited to be a woman in science.
Dr. Upasana Bora Sinha
Professor, Department of
Chemistry, Nagaland University, Lumami
Campus, Mokokchung.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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