In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The aim is to provide full and equal access to science for all girls and women and to encourage their participation in STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

Much progress has been made in recent years to encourage full and equal access for women to science. However, the path toward the achievement of a real gender equality is still long as, for example, the data relating to the progression of academic careers demonstrate.

Geosciences are no exception as demonstrated in a recent paper published in 2020 by some professors and researchers of the Department of Geosciences. The dataset presented highlights the marked decrease in the presence of women when moving from PhD fellows to permanent positions, the so-called “leaky pipeline”.

Gabriella Salviulo, professor of Mineralogy at the Department of Geosciences and Director of the University Center for Human Rights, recently speculated on this issue. She underlined that in the initial phase of the career there is substantial gender equality but as the career progresses the gap increases, so that few women actually reach top positions. However, the same "gap" is also found to be present in Human Sciences and for this reason Professor Salviulo recalled the reasoning of our Rector Daniela Mapelli who invited women to increase their self-awareness and propose themselves for top positions.

There are many initiatives schdules to celebrate the International Day of Girls and Women in Science, both in Italy and around the world.

The Department of Geosciences joins the international #WomenInScience campaign and, on this day, we will publish interviews with professors, researchers and PhD students on our social channels. It will be an opportunity to know more about their path in geosciences, the projects they are working on and the female figures women who have inspired them.