#IDWGS Essay: International Women's and Girl's Day in Science Leadership as New Era and Sustainability by Niktesh Naginlal Solanki

The IWD 2024 campaign theme is ‘Inspire Inclusion’. When we inspire others to understand and valur women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment.

The fact that women’s day is celebrated on March 8th is strongly linked to the women’s movements during the Russian Revolution (1917). New Zealand was the first self-governing nation to allow women to vote.

Due to their research, invention, innovations and discoveries, we are enjoying so many things in our lives and have a good future ahead. Despite this fact, we don’t have as many women in the scientific fields as men. Women, in different times, braved and broke all the odds to pursue their love for science.

Women and girls bring diversity to research, expand the pool of science professionals and provide fresh perspectives to science and technology, benefiting everyone. Theoretically, science should be open to everyone, yet it is still overwhelmingly male.

Improved decision making: different perspectives of females can bring valuable insights and advancements to scientific research and discovery leading to better problem-solving and decision-making.

On 22 December 2015, the general assembly decided to establish an annual international day to recognize the critical role women and girls play in science and technology, through resolution A/RES/70/212.

International day of women and girls in science 2023 will be celebrated on the theme ‘innovate, demonstrate, elevate, advance.

By participating in hands-on and fun engineering and technology activities from an early age, girls and boys (and their parents) can better understand what they could do as an engineer or doctor of nanotechnology.

Marie Curie, who discovered the radio-active elements radium and polonium and coined the term ‘radioactivity’, ranks among the world’s best known female scientists. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of her work, making her the first woman to earn the award.

The most important benefit is that it will enable girls to participate in the ‘jobs of the future’. These will be jobs that involve the use of technologies such as automation, robotics, data science and artificial intelligence.

Female students have lower interest in sciences and technology and higher interest in social sciences and language than male students even if they have the same area of work.

Female scientists are usually required to wear ankle-length clothing and closed-toe shoes. Additional they can wear PPE.

While women now account for 57% of bachelor’s degrees fields and 50% of bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering broadly, they account for only 38% of bachelor’s degrees in traditional STEM fields.

In conclusion, international women’s day is an important occasion that recognizes the achievements of women and calls for gender equality.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Niktesh Naginlal Solanki, Qualified and Registered Pharmacist (G-17574), Qualified and Registered Medical Transcriptionist, Qualified and Registered Senior Professional First Aider, Qualified and Registered Hospital Infection Controller, Active Life Member of Parevda Group, Save Birds Save Lives, Parevda Charitable Trust, Active Life Member of Robin Hood Army, Save Hungers, Give Education and Teach Useful Activities to Slum and Streets Children, Active Lifetime Universal Blood Donor, Always Ready to Help Needy One.