On the 11th of February we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It was established by the UN in 2015 and tries to encourage more girls to choose science as their career.
At present, less than 30 % of researchers worldwide are women. In Europe in 2017 women scientists and engineers formed about 41% of all scientists (and 59% were men). There is a big difference however among the European countries. Some with the biggest proportion of female scientist and engineers at that time were in Lithuania (57%), Bulgaria and Latvia (both 53%), Portugal (51%) and Denmark (just above 50%). The smallest percentage of female scientists and engineers were in Hungary, Luxembourg, Finland and Germany as there the men usually pick up this type of career.
Very often, when we think about women scientists, we students remember Marie Curie for her pioneering work in radioactivity. But there are brilliant women around us also now. This year we hope to get you inspired by female scientists. We asked our moms and moms of our friends what made them to choose the science as their careers.
We heard fantastic stories, from sailing to Arctic and molecular research, but one thing was similar in all these stories: they are very passionate about their work and it makes them happy! “Science is a work of a daily discovery”, one of them said.
Take a look at their life journeys in this multilingual article in English, French and Italian!
* Veronica Garcia Pérez is a biologist who studies genetics and specialises in asparagus. She loves working outside in the field and in the lab though at the moment she is stuck in front of a computer. Working at the ‘Universidad de Córdoba’ gives her the opportunity to meet lots of new people. Ever since she was in secondary, she loved biology so in university she chose genetics and ended up working with asparagus. She says: “Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
On this website and a video you may discover more about why her work on plant genetics matters.
* Alicia introduced her mother who is working as a researcher in earth observation. She uses satellite imagery for observing how the earth (forests, agriculture, water…) is changing over time. Her mother liked biology, mathematics and loved solving problems! It was her biology teacher that made her sensitive to environmental issues. So, she decided and turned her interest into finding solutions for sustainable management of our environmental resources.
At the Joint Research Center Alicia’s mother was responsible of developing and implementing a new method for monitoring the tropical moist forests over the past 3 decades using satellite observations.
Her mother thinks that women have a lot to contribute to scientific professions. They often work hard, are well organized and are very efficient. Men and women have different ways of working and this complementarity is benefic for science, hence the interest of having a good gender balance.
* Elena Parmelli ci racconta di come ha deciso di seguire la strada scientifica: "Alla fine del liceo la scelta su come proseguire gli studi non è stata immediata: mi piacevano l’arte, le lingue, le scienze…alla fine ho scelto la facoltà di Biologia perché volevo capire meglio il mondo che mi circondava. Durante gli studi e dopo la laurea il mio interesse si è via via concentrato sulla metodologia per la ricerca scientifica, l’epidemiologia, la medicina basata sulle evidenze e mi ha portata a fare un dottorato in sanità pubblica.
Lavorando prima all’università ed ora al JRC ho avuto la possibilità di collaborare con scienziati e ricercatori provenienti da tutto il mondo e questo è sicuramente l’aspetto del mio lavoro che amo di più: la scienza è un lavoro di squadra, nessuno scienziato lavora da solo, e i suoi risultati vengono condivisi con l’intera comunità nell’idea che possano portare ad un miglioramento per tutti. La scienza è un bene comune!"
* Sofia Batista Leite is a scientist working in the area of Life Biosciences. Her job now is about promotion and evaluation of non-animal methods. She says: “To pursue a career in science was very clear for me already as a teenager. Since I was a kid, I was always testing and experimenting with what I could, but it was when I started to study that it became clear I am into science. It was more difficult to choose which science, but I always liked the idea of knowing the unknown.
My science teachers (actually all women!) helped me to decide. In particular, I remember a chemistry teacher who told me that I might like Biochemistry. I was 16 year old at that time and planning to go into pharmacology. But her indication opened up my eyes to this area and helped me to go for it. At that time it was somewhat a strange area of study, not so much well known. But I was lucky that my parents fully supported this decision.
During my career I have been changing gradually, so science always has presented me with new challenges. In particular I remember the European project called SEURAT-1 on the development of non-animal methods for testing. Above all, I liked that it was a big collaborative project where I assumed several different roles as working in the lab and participating in project management. I met a lot of people and the collaboration atmosphere was fantastic.
But I am absolutely sure that the major challenge within my scientific career was to combine it with maternity. Science, and especially research, is very time consuming which many times clashes with the availability of a mother. Still, I like these both sides of me.
I believe that women are extremely important in science. A balanced atmosphere is very important to make decisions and to complete the knowledge. It is a pity that so many women did not have the possibility to contribute or left because their achievements were not recognized. The good news is that things are rapidly changing."
* Ed ecco cosa ci racconta una ricercatrice nel campo ambientale: “Quando ho iniziato a studiare biologia sono entrata in un laboratorio di ricerca dell’istituto di genetica e biofisica del centro nazionale ricerca di Napoli. Sono rimasta impressionata e affascinata da laboratorio di ricerca e ho capito subito che era quello che volevo fare. È stata un’illuminazione. Ho intuito che sarebbe stata la mia vita: studiare e fare ricerca sul cancro e malattie genetiche. È da qui che ho iniziato.
Ho avuto il piacere e l’onore di lavorare in uno dei laboratori più prestigiosi ed internazionali degli anni 80, dove hanno scoperto la sindrome dell’X fragile ( malattia genetica).
Era un ambiente così stimolante e scientificamente elevato.
Una challenge è stata applicare la biologia molecolare e la microbiologia all’ambiente, e applicare la ricerca del sequenziamento allo studio di meccanismi di tossicità nelle diatomee (alghe con funzione importantissima nell’oceano). Capire come avviene l’effetto di tossicità in questi organismi, che ha un’importanza cruciale.
Il mio primo supervisore è stata una donna che mi ha incorraggiata ad andare avanti. In seguito anche iosono stata mentore di diverse giovani ricercatrici e nella mia esperienza le giovani ricercatrici sono sempre state brillanti, creative e appassionate, come dovrebbe essere uno scienziato, indipendentemente se è un uomo o una donna."
* Asli ULUTURK TEKIN says: "I am working in the health sector. I chose science, specifically the health sector, because health is the basic need for all living things, and a prerequisite for being happy.
I was inspired by the medical doctors I have seen in my childhood, they seemed to have superpower to make our lives better when we were suffering.
The most challenging research project is the one I am currently working: a project that aims to provide better care for breast cancer patients and improve their living conditions.
I think the women in science are doing excellent jobs with their high capacity to see the detail. I would have liked to see even more women choosing science - and be a wonderful example for the future generations."
* Do you know that agricultural engineers integrate technology and farming? “Je suis Ingénieur Agronome et j'ai travaillé pendant 10 ans sur des projets d'utilisation des images satellites et photographies aériennes pour le calcul des superficies de certaines cultures et pour l'élaboration de cadastres agricoles. Ces projets devaient servir de support notamment à l'octroi d'aides européennes.
Je ne me suis pas trop posé de questions de quelle chemain poursuivre...j'étais très à l'aise en sciences à l'école...et puis petite ma grand-mère s'occupait de moi pendant que ma maman travaillait: elle m'emmenait pendant des heures dans son immense potager et jardin rempli de fleurs...je suis restée amoureuse de la nature, j'ai d'abord pensé à médecine et puis très vite la biologie et l'agronomie m'ont rattrapée! Dans chaque projet de recherche, il y a des aspects intéressants... C'est difficile de faire un classement... mais le plus"challenging" je crois c'est de passer du statut d'étudiant où on apprend des tas de trucs en maths, physique, bio et autres matières scientifiques au statut de jeune ingénieur en poste. Dans la vie professionnelle, tout est complètement différent de ce qu'on apprend à l'école ou à l'université, tout est challenging, il faut s'adapter vite et bien, et utiliser au mieux non seulement ses connaissances mais surtout ses capacités d'analyse et d'organisation! Beaucoup de parcours reste à faire pour le femmes dans le monde scientifique...dans mon promo, la dernière année, nous étions deux filles pour une vingtaine de garçons! Puis dans mes équipes professionnelles, encore une majorité d'hommes...Lors des réunions avec les ministères, j'étais le plus souvent la seule femme...Pas toujours facile, on ne vous fait pas de cadeau, parfois même on vous met à l'épreuve! Mais je n'ai jamais douté de ma place et j'encourage toutes celles qui ont envie de faire des sciences à y aller motivées et à continuer de faire bouger les lignes! Les femmes peuvent être d'excellentes scientifiques au même titre que les hommes!
* Science can also bring you to a different career perspective. Annalisa was interested in science but eventually turned to teach science.
She says: "Ho scelto educazione scientifica perché mi piace stare a contatto con la natura e volevo fare un lavoro che mi portasse a stare all'aperto. Mi hanno inspirato alcuni insegnanti e mi hanno sostenuto i miei genitori e alcuni amici.
Tra le miei esperienze più memorabili c’è un progetto con dei ragazzi disabili con cui abbiamo lavorato sul riconoscimento delle piante e la creazione di un erbario didattico per la scuola. Penso che le donne debbano avere maggiore opportunità e un maggior incoraggiamento per proseguire la strada intrapresa."
* Elisabetta Canuti has a degree in Chemical Engineering. She is a mother of two children, but it doesn’t stop her from joining scientific expeditions, some of which may last for weeks, and even lead to the cold North Pole!
What was she doing there? She joined an international research crue, where her job was to collect water samples to quantify phytoplankton biomass of the ocean. Departing from Bergen (Norway) and going up to the North, with the icy weather, dark nights and seven meter high waves did not scare her, nor seven other women out of 69 expedition members. Why? Because she believes that the work she is doing is important, and if the job is your passion you can do everything.
“I like motorbike and one day I and a friend of mine were deciding for a trip together. He said "Spain". I reply, "why not Cape North?". He said "no is too far, too long, too difficult. We are not very skilled bikers". I replied "well let's try it: we could always stop and come back". And in the end we did it: we took our two motorbikes to Cape North and back. My wish is for both, boys and girls: if you have a dream, if you like something, don't discourage, instead give a try. You might be successful.”
And “Yes”, Elisabetta says, “it's possible to do a very interesting and stimulating job, and to have a family”.
Interested to read more? Enjoy these extra resources about women and science and make your own dreams come true!
There are plenty of great women scientists in Europe. The European Platform of Women Scientist is providing interesting updates and you can find inspirational profiles of European women scientists on it.
The Untold History of Women in Science and Technology: on this website, you may listen to podcasts and read about important women, that made history but are not that famous.
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