International Day of Women and Girls in Science
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🅭 UNCTAD. (2023, February 10). Women in Science Day: UNCTAD chief Rebeca Grynspan [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ObnqiKIA4
Unlocking the full potential of human knowledge, driving innovation, and shaping a more just and sustainable world.
This week marks a milestone—the 10th anniversary of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, 2025. This day, established by UNESCO and UN-Women, isn’t just a celebration—it’s a call to action. Despite groundbreaking discoveries, life-saving innovations, and leadership in labs and classrooms worldwide, women and girls continue to be underrepresented in scientific fields.
Gender equality in science isn’t just about fairness—it’s about unlocking the full potential of human knowledge, driving innovation, and shaping a more just and sustainable world. When we empower young girls, ensure their education, and amplify their voices, we don’t just change their futures—we change the future of science itself.
Today, only one in three scientific researchers is a woman—a statistic that has remained stagnant for the past decade. Dr. Connie Newman, a Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation (WIMLF) Board Member, Past President of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), and Adjunct Professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, has long been at the forefront of addressing gender disparities in medicine and science. She is the co-author of Inequity and Women Physicians: Time to Change Millennia of Societal Beliefs and serves as a Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) Representative to the United Nations, where she focuses on gender equity in health and healthcare—a field of science that, while making progress, still has significant ground to cover. She states:
“Although much progress has been made in the admission of women to medical schools (about 50% of students are women), implicit gender bias persists. Women have slower academic promotion, are underrepresented in leadership roles, are less often invited to give grand rounds or national lectures, have less funding for research and lower salaries. Strategies for managing implicit bias begin at the level of the organization and a first step is assessment of the magnitude of the problem.”
Gender disparities in science begin long before women enter the workforce. UNESCO’s 2024 Call to Action for Closing the Gender Gap in Science outlines a multifaceted plan to dismantle deeply ingrained stereotypes and biases that take root in early childhood. These stereotypes promote the false notion that boys are naturally better at math and science, while traits like objectivity and rationality are seen as inherently male. Accompanying these misconceptions is the belief that women lack the qualities needed to succeed in scientific fields. These harmful attitudes persist across many countries, shaping education, training, and career development, ultimately discouraging young girls from pursuing science and impacting their retention in the field.
These messages are reinforced worldwide through culture, adult attitudes, education, and media—further contributing to the erasure of women from scientific history. Combatting these forces requires intentional effort: we must amplify the role of women in science, highlight their achievements, and inspire younger generations to pursue scientific careers.
The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation is committed to preserving and sharing the stories of women in medicine and medical science, ensuring that their contributions are recognized, celebrated, and serve as aspirational examples for future generations. Research affirms that:
“…one way of eliminating gender stereotypes is to showcase exceptional women.” (Nair-Bedouelle, 2023).
By challenging long-standing biases and reshaping the narrative of science, WIMLF’s oral histories illuminate the discriminatory practices of the past, document the critical contributions of women in medical research, and highlight the progress made toward equity. These firsthand accounts provide undeniable proof of women’s resilience, intelligence, and impact—offering inspiration to young girls and women today who may face their own barriers in scientific fields.
Consider the experience of Dr. Barbara Barlow, a pioneering pediatric surgeon whose career focused on childhood injury prevention:
“I actually graduated first in my class from Einstein, so I went to the director of surgery... and he said, ‘You’re crazy.’ He said, ‘Women shouldn’t be surgeons.’ One of our hospitals, the chief of surgery said he wouldn’t allow ‘any damn woman’ in his operating room unless she was a nurse... Surgery was one of the last bastions of male-dominated professions, really. Still isn’t easy for women in surgery.” (2008, Dr. Barbara Barlow, MD)
Dr. Ellen Gritz, a groundbreaking behavioral psychologist, describes the more insidious forms of discrimination in leadership and career advancement:
“Over the course of my career, I certainly have encountered glass ceilings, male-dominated organizations, and selection processes. Sitting on search committees, being a candidate for positions—it’s often subtle, very subtle. You never know that you weren’t selected because you were a woman. But when you read enough literature, when you read about leadership experiences, and even the assumptions made about how people should dress or behave, you become far more aware of the critical lessons in what we would call gender equality.” (2009, Dr. Ellen Gritz, PhD)
As Dr.Connie Newman aptly summarizes:
“As gender bias has existed for hundreds or thousands of years, resolving gender bias in medicine and science requires cultural change and a shift in the social and political environment to achieve gender equity in medicine and science, and gender equality for all.”
On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, WIMLF stands as a vocal partner in celebrating the power of storytelling to honor pioneering women in medicine. By sharing these narratives, we not only recognize the women who defied societal expectations to make transformative contributions but also pave the way for future generations to break barriers and shape a more equitable future in science and medicine.
Make a donation to support our oral history project and help us preserve the stories of women in medicine.
References and for Further Reading:
Dominus, Susan, (2018) Unheralded women scientists are finally getting their due. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved February 4, 2025, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/unheralded-women-scientists-finally-getting-their-due-180973082/
Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine. (2009, February 3-4). Oral history interview with Ellen Gritz (audio and transcript). OnView. Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/items/show/13403
Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine. (2008, June 17). Oral history interview with Dr. Barbara Barlow (audio and transcript). OnView. Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/items/show/13401
Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine. OnView. Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/exhibits/show/fhwim-oral-histories
Newman, C., Templeton, K., & Chin, E. L. (2020). Inequity and Women Physicians: Time to Change Millennia of Societal Beliefs. The Permanente Journal, 24, 20.024. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/20.024
Nair-Bedouelle, S. (2023, February 10). The lack of gender equality in science is everyone’s problem. United Nations Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/lack-gender-equality-science-everyone%E2%80%99s-problem
Shachnai, R., Bian, L., & Kushnir, T. (2022, September 27). First-grade girls stick with science after pretending to be Marie Curie. Duke Today. Retrieved from https://today.duke.edu/2022/09/first-grade-girls-stick-science-after-pretending-be-marie-curie
Tetaz, Alice (2023, February 10). One in two women scientists say they have experienced sexual harassment at work. Retrieved from https://www.ipsos.com/en/one-two-women-scientists-say-they-have-experienced-sexual-harassment-work
UNESCO. (2021). To be smart, the digital revolution will need to be inclusive. Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/reports/science/2021/en/women-digital-revolution
UNESCO. (2023). UNESCO call to action: Closing the gender gap in science. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388641
UNESCO (n.d.). International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/2025-international-day-women-and-girls-science
United Nations. (n.d.). International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day
Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation. (n.d.). Discover the women who came before you. Retrieved from https://www.wimlf.org/