Women and Girls in Science

If you are a girl, chances are that you’ve been told too often that “science is for boys”. I still remember someone telling my younger sister to choose dance classes over science, simply because she belonged to a different gender.

Science has always been widely regarded as something that girls are bad at, or not interested in, but in reality, ground-breaking research all over the world has been led by women. Despite their contributions to the field of science, women continue to be excluded by the gender gap. Some might say that the reason women are disregarded in the subject of science, is because ‘there aren’t many women scientists’, or ‘girls never choose science’, but the studies show otherwise.

Research shows that women are usually given much smaller research grants than men in the same field, and while they represent almost 40% of researchers, they make up a mere 12% of national science academy members. Women like Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin have been the brilliant minds behind major scientific discoveries, and yet they are still not taken seriously by society.

In 2015, the General Assembly of the UN declared the 11^th of February as ‘International Day of Women and Girls in Science’, to promote equal access to and participation in science for women around the world. The world needs science, and science, in turn, needs women. We celebrate this day to recognise the achievements of women and girls throughout history and all over the world, and encourage them to continue to break the glass ceiling, crush stereotypes, and close the gender gap.

Let’s create a world where no one has to be told that they can’t do something; where no one is unappreciated or under-represented; where all genders are equal. Science is one of the most important languages of the world – we need it to solve some of the universe’s greatest mysteries. Why can’t that be for people of all genders?