Women in STEM Leadership: "A New Era for Sustainability"

Yesterday marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, highlighting the invaluable contributions of women to scientific progress and innovation. At Evenness , we proudly champion this cause and embrace this year's theme, "Women in Science Leadership: A New Era for Sustainability."

Our startup, led by women and powered by a diverse team of ethical innovators, is dedicated to advancing accessible and sustainable innovation.         

The statistics underscore the need for action:

• Women make up only 28% of the STEM workforce globally, with even lower figures in specific regions: 24% in the United States, 17% in the European Union, 16% in Japan, and 14% in India. [Source: MIT]
• Despite representing 33.3% of researchers, women receive smaller research grants and remain significantly underrepresented in national science academies. [Source: UN]
• Gender diversity in crucial fields like artificial intelligence remains a pressing issue, with only one in five professionals being women. [Source: UN]
• There's a disparity in STEM education, with women constituting only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of computer science and informatics graduates. [Source: UNESCO]
• Women continue to be underrepresented in scientific institutions dealing with environmental issues, hindering progress in addressing pressing global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. For instance, women make up just 33% of the authors who worked on the IPCC’s sixth assessment report. [Source: IPCC]
• The percentage of women inventors remains low across various technology domains, at 15%, highlighting the need for greater gender diversity in innovation. [Source: OECD]
• A relatively higher participation observed for chemistry and health-related technologies (20% and 24% respectively), while environment-related technologies are just below the average participation, and the rate is even lower for power generation and general engineering technologies (10% and 8% respectively). [Source: OECD]

To address these challenges and foster diversity in STEM, it's imperative to:

• Encourage girls to pursue STEM education and gamify their experience.
• Create inclusive, equitable workplaces.
• Promote female role models.
• Implement mentorship programs focused on career and skill enhancement.
• Educate male leaders to become allies.
• Offer professional development opportunities tailored for future leaders.
• Address structural barriers, including policy changes, reforming hiring practices, supporting work-life balance, addressing pay equity, and others.
• Increase funding opportunities for women scientists, researchers, and innovators.
• Promote visibility and recognition by acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of women in STEM.

In light of this, we're spotlighting inspiring voices from women innovators, ESG champions, and scientists who serve as our role models. They motivate us to pursue our mission of unleashing inclusive and sustainable innovation for everyone.

"As we strive for an extraordinary tomorrow, we create a better world today. As we look at building the capabilities for sustaining human travel outside the solar system we’ll find solutions for some of the most pressing science and technology and cultural problems that we face on Earth today." - Dr. Mae Jemison, an engineer, physicist, and former NASA astronaut who became the first African American woman to travel into outer space.

Source: Rosie Riveters

"In order to accelerate the energy transition, particularly in this decisive decade, we need to start thinking about it as a complete system change. We shouldn't just focus on today's needs; we must envision the future energy system we want to create, aiming for a more just and equitable society for all, and begin working on those solutions now." - Nicole Iseppi , Director of Global Energy Innovation at Bezos Earth Fund.

Source: X

"Organizations that prioritize the advancement of women report as much as 61% higher revenue growth than competitors. We're not just talking numbers and data; we're talking about a future-proof strategy that encompasses Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. After all, what is risk management if not ensuring a sustainable and equitable world for all?" - Bhuva Shakti , ESG Champion, Chief Ethics & Culture Officer at Women in AI , Advisor at Evenness

Source: LinkedIn 1 / LinkedIn 2

"We are facing a global water crisis and without water, we cannot survive. Water is life. Many people don’t realize that water is essential for social well-being, economic development, business growth and the health of natural ecosystems. What we need is putting a value on water. And patient funding for scale and speeding up the deployment of all these great innovations and solutions that are waiting to be scaled. So we can create our efficient, modern, profitable yet circular water smart society." - Sabine Stuiver , CMO & Co-founder of Hydraloop .

Source: WIPO / LinkedIn

"To empower more women to lead the way in fighting the climate crisis, leaders should promote women's representation in climate policy and decision-making, encourage more female leadership in sustainability, support gender-sensitive policies, and invest in gender-inclusive climate solutions." - Grace Galdos Arenas MSc. , Global Lead for the Sustainability Lab of the Intelligent Enterprise Institute at SAP .

Source: LinkedIn

These are just a few examples among many inspiring women who are breaking barriers and leading the charge towards sustainable innovation. Join us in celebrating the powerful minds of women and girls in STEM!

???????? Tag your role models and peers in the comments below. Let's amplify their voices and continue striving for a more inclusive and sustainable future.

#WomenInSTEM #GirlsInSTEM #DiversityInSTEM #Sustainability #Innovation #AI #Science #Engineering #Research #Evenness #Inclusion #Accessibility #IDWGS2024