Today, 11 February, is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

A third of CETIM Technology Centre’s staff are women, most of them PhDs.

CETIM supports the future of female researchers by favouring labour insertion without gender gap.

 

Culleredo, 10 February 2021.- Tomorrow, 11th February, International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we go over the figures again and we continue to proudly state that one of the values of CETIM, Technology Centre is its human capital and, specifically, that a high percentage of this talent that makes our achievements possible is written in feminine.

 

In the CETIM team, the presence of female researchers has been a constant since our beginnings almost a decade ago and, to date, women represent 61% of the staff, and 71% in middle positions, most of whom are PhDs. At senior management level, they occupy 5 of the 8 positions of responsibility including the management of our two main fields of research: ECO BIO Technologies and Advanced Materials.

 

However, as stated by the UN, we know that the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sectors is difficult to break. Although women’s participation in higher education careers has increased enormously, they are still under-represented in these fields. In professional performance, the UN data are no better. Less than 30% of researchers worldwide are women.

 

Science and gender equality are vital to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over the past 15 years, the international community has made a great effort to inspire and promote the participation of women and girls in science. However, women and girls continue to face obstacles in science.

 

For our part, we take the baton and hope that our small contribution from Galicia in defence of gender-neutral STEM talent will serve as an example to show future women scientists and researchers that, if they want to pursue a career in STEM, they can do so with guaranteed success.

 

 

What are the International Days for?
As the UN points out, International Days give us the opportunity to raise awareness among the general public on issues of great interest, such as human rights, sustainable development or health. At the same time, they are intended to draw attention to unresolved problems that require concrete policy action.

 

In this context, in order to achieve full and equal access and participation in science for women and girls, and furthermore to achieve gender equality and their empowerment, the United Nations General Assembly in 2016 proclaimed 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.