Why are there still fewer women than men in science? In a world where just 30% of researchers are women, the reasons are many, ranging from the challenge of balancing family life and career to a lack of childcare support and role models.
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| ICTP celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2018 |
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) hopes to address some of these challenges through a number of initiatives aimed at increasing the participation and representation of women in physics at the Centre. By including specific actions to this end in its new strategic plan for 2015 to 2019, ICTP has already taken some important steps:
- In 2019 and 2018, ICTP organized activities for the UN’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
- ICTP hosted its fourth Career Development Workshop for Women in Physics from 28 October to 1 November 2019. This follows on workshops held in 2017 (photos can be found here), 2015 (see related news items here and here) as well as in 2013.
- ICTP also hosted the ‘Conference on Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It?‘ from 4 to 8 November 2019, during which results of a three-year project were presented. See related news article.
- The Centre offered free attendance and accommodation for one of its renowned conferences to the five winners of the 2015 Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World, which focused this year on physics and mathematics.
- The Centre devoted two sessions to Women in Science during its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2014.
More actions are planned, thanks to the appointment of a coordinator for ICTP’s women in physics initiatives. Please check this web page frequently for new developments and opportunities.
How many women scientists have visited ICTP?
Since 2002, when ICTP first started keeping track of gender statsitics at the institute, more than 18,000 women scientists from developing countries have visited ICTP for its research and educational opportunities. Where are they from, and what field of physics have they studied while here, and which ICTP programs interest them the most? The charts below provide some details as of 2018.
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Reference:
- https://www.ictp.it/ictp-for-women.aspx#close
- https://www.ictp.it/ictp-for-women/statistics.aspx