EPN 53-3

YOUNG MINDS
International Day of Women and Girls
in Science event - Young Minds Groningen
Accelerating progress towards full and equal access and participation
of women and girls in science
l Stefanie Brackenhoff and Akshara Viswanathan, EPS YM Groningen
“You can’t solve a problem until you’re
asking the right question. Raw data will
not solve our problems, asking the right
questions will.”
Policymakers and faculty boards should
consider this approach by Albert
Einstein while dealing with diversity
issues in science. On the 11 th of
February 2022, the UNESCO Day
of Women and Girls in Science, the
Groningen Young Minds Section organized
a webinar to discuss the barriers
female scientists encounter. The
event featured scientific talks by two
renowned female scientists, followed
by presentations about gender equality
by two STEM practitioners, and an
open discussion session.
Role models - the agents
of change
Stating that “Being a woman in science
is a responsibility in itself for the
up-and-coming generation.” Prof.
Irene D’Amico (Full Professor at the
University of York) and Prof. Ivone
Albuquerque (Full Professor at the
University of São Paulo) kicked off
the day, while Dr. Francesca Primas
(Full astronomer at the European
Southern Observatory and former
Chair of the International
Astronomical Union Working Group
on Women in Astronomy) and Dr.
Tana Joseph (Postdoctoral Research
Fellow at the University of Amsterdam
and Coordinator of the Netherlands
Astronomy Equity and Inclusion
Committee) picked up the gender
equality baton for the afternoon.
Prof. D’Amico talked about the use
of networks of spins to perform quantum
information processing and how
evolutionary algorithms may help with
this task [1]. Prof. Albuquerque welcomed
us to the ‘Dark Side’ experiment
that is designed to directly detect dark
matter in the Universe [2]. Dr. Primas
discussed a selection of past and ongoing
equity, diversity and inclusion efforts
in astronomy. Dr. Joseph outlined
the advantages and disadvantages she
experienced on her journey as an aspiring
black female astronomer, and what
we can learn from these experiences
as a community. Parallel flashbacks
between how astronomy in pre-internet
South Africa grew versus how
Dr. Joseph’s astronomy career started
inspired the participants. During the
open discussion, audience members
were able to bring issues they experienced
to the table.
. Top left: Prof.
Irene D’Amico.
Top right:
Prof. Ivone
Albuquerque.
Bottom left:
Dr. Francesca
Primas.
Bottom right:
Dr. Tana Joseph.
A holistic view of equity,
diversity and inclusion
in astronomy
“Diversity is the mix we want to achieve.
Inclusion is what makes the mix work.”
– Francesca Primas
Dr. Primas discussed the gender
gap in astronomy: although the influx
of female students is approaching
that of male students, women disproportionally
experience discrimination
(56% of women vs. 8% of men)
or harassment (30% of women vs. 3%
of men) [3]. Furthermore, the success
rate of female astronomers in winning
observing time on the Hubble
Space Telescope and other facilities
was found to be systematically lower
than that of their male counterparts
[4, 5, 6]. Preliminary results indicate
that implementing dual-anonymous
reviews removes this issue [7, 8]. Dr.
Primas’ talk made ongoing efforts
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