We are delighted to be coinciding the publication of our first ‘Women in Science’ issue with International Women’s Day 2018. With this issue we aim to celebrate the fantastic work being conducted by women around the world, highlight the importance of a diverse workforce and examine the challenges currently facing female researchers.
The glass ceiling is at its thickest in STEM fields. The women we feature in this issue work in diverse areas of research and we hope that their stories will inspire the next generation of researchers. We have purposefully focused on the research carried out by each of these women: we want to celebrate their successes and explore the varied contributions they are making to the world of research.
We also speak to key figures in the campaign for gender equality in science: Professor Alice Roberts, Professor of Public Engagement and Science at the University of Birmingham; Dr Brigitte Mühlenbruch, Honorary President of the European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS; Helen Wollaston, Chief Executive at the WISE Campaign; Karina O’Gorman, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at L’Oréal UK and Ireland; the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Canadian Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities; and Dr Shirley Malcom, Head of Education and Human Resources Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
While this issue aims to highlight the fantastic work done by these women, we also want to acknowledge that the field of research has not yet hit the level of equality we would all like to see. To do this, and discuss possible solutions, we canvassed the opinions of our featured researchers on two key questions: Why do you think that women are still underrepresented in the world of scientific research? What needs to be done to tackle this?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on these questions. Please feel free to join the debate on Twitter (@ResearchFeature) or Facebook. Meanwhile, join us in celebrating women’s contributions to the world of science by dipping into our latest issue.
