International Day of Women and Girls in Science
February 11th is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This day was established by the United Nations General Assembly to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in education, training, employment and the decision-making processes in the sciences.
In 2017, a group of people in Spain promoted the February 11 Initiative in order to encourage and publicise in this country the organisation of activities that give visibility to women’s achievements in Science with the main objective of attracting girls to scientific careers. In that first edition, 11defebrero.org announced almost 350 activities organised all around Spain and some overseas.
The organisation of the 2018 edition in Spain, which will take place between the 1st and 15th of February, is well underway. Still several weeks ahead from the deadline, there are already more than 250 activities announced in 11defebrero.org. This year, there is a very strong focus on schools, in order to educate future generations in gender equality. More than 700 schools have shown interest in hosting talks given by women scientists, or about women’s research and around 200 of them have already been planned.
The success of the initiative relies on the participation of individuals, associations and institutions, especially within the scientific and educational communities. Universities, research institutions, museums, cultural centres, bars and many other places will join February 11 with workshops, exhibitions, science dating, radio programs, theater plays and debates. Booksellers can fill the shop windows with science books written by women or about women scientists. Designers can contribute with illustrations.
The webpage of the initiative provides ideas and instructional materials to help organise activities as well as information on the situation and the causes of the existing gender gap.
More information (in Spanish) can be found in 11defebrero.org, twitter @11defebreroES, facebook @11defebreroES and instagram 11defebreroes.
