International Day of Women and Girls in STEM

From the way we look at space to creatures at the bottom of the ocean to understanding why what we eat matters—the role that women and girls play in the STEM field is immeasurable. STEM stands for “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” and are professional fields where women have historically been underrepresented.  That’s why the United Nations—along with UNESCO—started the holiday back in 2016. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated annually every February 11th, is a day designed to promote full and equal access to all women and girls participating in STEM education. 

And to celebrate, we’re giving you everything you need to know about the holiday. 

UNESCO Theme for 2021: Women Scientists at the Forefront of the Fight Against Covid-19

The theme for 2021 is:

“Women Scientists at the Forefront of the Fight Against Covid-19”. And because of well, *points at everything*, this years’ celebration will take place virtually. According to the UN, “the COVID-19 pandemic …had a significant negative impact on women scientists, particularly affecting those at the early stages of their career, 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 women and girls in science.” 

 

Here are some fast facts about women in STEM: 

• Globally, less than 30 percent of all researchers are women.
• And that’s reflected in our media, too. Only 12 percent of all onscreen characters with a STEM job were women.

The program for the event itself, hosted by UNESCO in Paris, is as follows:

• Opening remarks by Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO (or her representative)
• Webinar on Women scientists at the forefront of the Covid-19 research:
  • Prof Sarah Gilbert, Professor of Vaccinology, Oxford University, and co-founder of Vaccitech
  • Dr. Özlem Türeci (TBC), Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, BioNTech
  • Ms. Megan Hochstrasser, Education Program Manager, Innovative Genomics Institute
  • Dr. Anggia Prasetyoputri, Researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and 2020 Fellow of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Indonesia national program
  • Session moderated by Dr. Peggy Oti-boateng, Director, Science Policy and Capacity Building, UNESCO
• Panel discussion on The impact of COVID-19 on the research and scientific careers of women scientists with:
  • Prof Jennifer Thomson, President, Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), and 2004 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science laureate
  • Mr. Kyle R. Myers, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University
  • Ms. Anne Christine Brusendorff, Secretary-General, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
  • Session moderated by Dr. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO
• Closing remarks by Dr. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle

For the curious, you can register for the UNESCO event here.