Dragana Ilic (University of Hamburg and University of Belgrade)
Throughout the history there have been many creative women scientists that contributed to the advancement of science and technology. The presence of women in natural science has significantly increased in the last hundred years, however, their percentages remain strikingly low, especially in physics and astrophysics which strongly lag other disciplines. The so-called “gender gap” that describes “any difference between women and man in terms of their levels of participation, access, rights, remuneration or benefits” is still significant at all levels. This seems to be especial noticeable in developing countries. In recent years, many steps have been taken to quantify the gender gap, and in that way identify actions and initiatives, such as to reveal underappreciated biases, that should be consider to reach the parity. Here we discuss some recent findings on gender gap in astrophysics and natural sciences, with the aim to raise awareness of these topics and initiate discussion within the scientific community.
Some recommended literature:
1. A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It?
https://gender-gap-in-science.org/2020/06/25/gender-gap-in-science-book/
2. Lisa J. Kewley, 2021, Closing the gender gap in the Australian astronomy workforce, Nature Astronomy, 5, 615
3. Women in Physics and Astronomy, 2019, https://www.aip.org/statistics/reports/women-physics-and-astronomy-2019
4. The Global Gender Gap Index 2020, World Economic Forum
http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2020/the-global-gender-gap-index-2020/?doing_wp_cron=1650637008.8552610874176025390625