To mark International Women’s Day, the Women in IASP (International Associations of Science Parks) held a global meeting to discuss some of the important issues facing women in science. Women in IASP is a group that was set up to share knowledge and increase the visibility of women in innovation communities worldwide.
Moderated by Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership at Norwich Research Park in the UK, the audience heard from Dr. Bindu Nishal from Agri Innovations and One Health at IKP Knowledge Park, India and Prof Keo Shirley Motaung, CEO of Global Health Biotech in South Africa.
One of the key points for discussion was the global issue of how to close the gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Dr Nishal shared her experiences running the SheLeads in Science programme, which aims to foster gender diversity, support professional growth and promote innovation at IKP.
She spoke about the ‘inexplicable gap’ that currently exists with women being significantly underrepresented in STEM. In 2023, around 29% of the worldwide workforce in STEM fields were women compared to around 49% of the total employment in non-STEM fields.
Despite graduating at higher rates than men, women are less likely to study in STEM fields, are less likely to take a career in STEM and those that do tend to leave their careers earlier than men. She also explained that women in STEM are published less and are typically underpaid.
Prof Motaung highlighted the need to encourage grassroots efforts and mentorship to promote innovation and improve women’s participation in STEM. From her work, she believes that gender diversity fuels innovation and research advancements and that inclusivity is key.
To address this, she suggested joining mentorship, coaching or advocacy programmes, supporting policies promoting women in STEM and spreading the word to encourage more interest in STEM as a career choice amongst young women.
Commenting on the event, Roz said, “What a great session we had today ahead of International Women’s Day. It was fantastic to host two international speakers and hear their inspirational stories which will encourage us all! I truly hope that 2025 will be a year where we see more women in technology and innovation spaces and where we make significant progress in closing the gender gap.”