DUBAI – Everyone must play a role in ensuring gender equality and accessibility for all in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to ensure a better tomorrow, global female experts concluded at events held today (11 February) at Expo 2020 Dubai for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
The events, which coincided with global celebration of the International Day, were hosted at Nexus for People and Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion.
Emphasising the importance of an open culture, during her keynote address, Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology, Chair of the UAE Space Agency and the Emirates Scientists Council, and the Deputy Project Manager of the Emirates Mars Mission, said: “I’ve had the privilege of working with remarkable women, especially on the science team of the Emirates Mars Mission, where 80 per cent of the team are women. These women are there, not because we impose a quota, but because we levelled the playing field and recruited the best people for the job.
“When you’re working on a mission, you can’t compromise on development. But you need to be open to accepting people from so many different backgrounds. And the success of the mission was actually driven from the diversity that was available. So we’re working with partners from around the world to ensure diversity within the team. The outcomes of science and technology and research is more impactful when they are more inclusive.”
Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, former UAE Minister of State for Tolerance, former Minister of State for International Cooperation and former Minister of Economic and Planning, agreed on the importance of prioritising talent: “As we talk about more gender inclusion, I believe that the drive should be first for talent; for expertise. No one should be forced to study science if they don’t like it. But as we see today, everything in our life is based on science, from phones to laptops – everything.”
Dr Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences at the United Nations Environment Programme, highlighted the urgency of closing the gender gap: “We have achieved [gender] parity at bachelor’s and master’s level for STEM, but many of these graduates are not choosing to embark on a career in research or they’re leaving the research profession prematurely.
“One way of eliminating gender stereotypes is to showcase exceptional woman. This is what the UNESCO and L’Oréal have been doing for the past 23 years through the For Women in Science programme… How are we going to tackle today’s daunting challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, viral epidemics or the rapid development of artificial intelligence if we cannot call upon all of our baseline, wherever they may be? This is why it is so urgent to close the gender gap in science and technologies.”
L’Oréal and UNESCO honoured 14 women from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for their remarkable discoveries in STEM at the For Women in Science Young Talents programme MENA Awards Ceremony, held at Expo 2020 Dubai earlier this week.
Today’s event panellists advised everyone to look out for female role models, reach for support from men and women, follow their passions, look for opportunities, be persistent and not fear failure to close the gender gap in the fields of STEM and innovation.
Speaking virtually, Karen Hallberg, 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate and Research Director at the Bariloche Atomic Centre, said: “Physics used to be a strange career choice for a young woman. This is something that has to change culturally. I think it is changing very gradually, but we really need a deep cultural change. Women really need to feel comfortable to go into STEM … and in particular careers that are connected to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A recent UNESCO report shows that approximately one quarter of women go into these careers so [women] have to go into a career that really excites us rather than being seen as a trend statistic.”
Highlighting the importance of men’s role in creating a more inclusive culture, Anna Andersone, Chief Empowerment Officer, Riga TechGirls (Latvia), said: “We have a new programme called Male Champions – male participants who are supporting females in their career growth. Male champions are often husbands, who support their wives, who want to learn new skills, who want to network and build connections. These are husbands who take care of the kids equally in the evenings and let the women also have their social life – I think it’s a crucial part in supporting women in achieving their goals.”
Her Excellency Dr Nawal Al Hosany, Permanent Representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency, acknowledged the visionary nature of the UAE and her own family for supporting her career choice, but said she has also seen a cultural change when it comes to hiring: “Now, there is at least the expectation that there is an accountability about making a very intentional choice to look for the many capable and well-prepared women that we have around the world.”
The programme, UNESCO’s main celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science for 2022, ran in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), and comes ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March.
The programme also featured Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, UNOOSA (virtual); Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (virtual); Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space scientist and science communicator, and host of BBC series The Sky at Night; Zainab Azim, Co-Founder, GIVE, UN Space4Women mentor and the youngest member of Virgin Galactic’s Future Astronaut Program; and Professor Catherine Ngila, 2020 Laureate of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science programming is part of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, which centres around 10 Theme Weeks that offer an exchange of inspiring new perspectives to address the greatest challenges and opportunities of our time.