Future approaches for gender equality in science across geographies should focus on systemic, actionable change. Key strategies include enacting institutional policy shifts, flexible work, transparent hiring, bridging the digital divide, promoting mentorship and sponsorship, and implementing data-driven monitoring of STEM equity, as emphasized by UNESCO and the International Science Council. S. K. Varshney writes.
The importance of gender equity in leadership and international STEM cooperation is acknowledged at various forums. Women, especially those from the global south, remain under-represented on several global platforms that shape our world’s future. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has acknowledged that the under-representation of women in STEM results in a loss of talent, innovation, and their full participation in the growth that ultimately reduces the development of each country.
Women researchers are leading several cutting-edge research projects and are part of remarkable discoveries. However, their representation is curtailed at higher or leadership positions. Despite 50 percent enrolment at the graduation level, only 30 percent of the world’s researchers are women. Women share 3 percent in Nobel Prizes for science, 3 percent of the Shanti Swaroop award, a poor percentage of academic awards, and only 11-15 percent are working at leadership positions throughout the world. These figures underline the need for gender parity in various international collaborative formats.
According to the most recent estimates for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries such as Belgium, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Norway, United Kingdom, Russia, and Poland, women representation is more balanced. Several other countries like Turkey and Singapore are also balanced as women are representing between 30-45 percent of the total researchers, though Japan and South Korea have a significant gender imbalance among researchers with a women's percentage of 15 percent and 19 percent respectively.
Most of the countries like Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Korea, the UK, and the USA understand that gender parity could be achieved with set targets in prescribed timeline with international cooperation and sharing of the best practices. Following this, representation of women in scientific positions has increased but women are clustered in certain disciplines and are still excluded from core disciplines of natural sciences and leadership positions. Even though women comprised approximately 50 percent of the share in the medical field, there is only one woman director in the history of one of the prominent medical institutes of India i.e., the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Leadership in prestigious engineering institutes, like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is yet to be achieved by women.
Most of the international reports revealed that women researchers are facing similar barriers across the world, despite their cultural and geographical contexts. The lower representation of women from most of the countries indicates an urgent need for international collaboration in this area. The common targets of SDGs persuade the use of science diplomacy to achieve gender parity in STEM. Lessons may be learned from the Muslim dominating countries like Jordan, Malaysia, and Tunisia where 50 percent of women are working in engineering and technical professions.
Addressing on Women's Day, Indian Science Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that “women in science are not merely participants but powerful catalysts" in India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat. The Minister underlined that scientific growth and national development are inseparable, and that inclusive participation especially of women is essential to sustaining India’s innovation momentum. He stressed that sustained institutional support, early-stage mentoring, and translational pathways are critical to ensuring that research outcomes convert into tangible societal impact. He said that empowering young students, particularly girls, through structured exposure to laboratories and research institutions will create a multiplier effect in the years ahead.
Future approaches for gender equality in science across geographies should focus on systemic, actionable change rather than just increasing participation. Key strategies include enacting institutional policy shifts, including flexible work, transparent hiring, bridging the digital divide, promoting mentorship and sponsorship, and implementing data-driven monitoring of STEM equity, as emphasized by UNESCO and the International Science Council. It should include systematic structural changes, data driven monitoring, targeted mentorship and sponsorship, visibility and role models, intersectional approaches and focus on participation of women in the emerging technology sector. We need to bridge the policy gap for gender equality, regional focuses, and empowerment for women leadership.