Concrete actions are needed against prejudices because only in this way will it be possible to break the glass ceiling: the women who have paved the way in many fields of science, from space to research in Antarctica, are convinced of this, gathered in the Conference of Scientific and Spaziali 2023 organized at the University of Padua by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
“The data is encouraging, but there is still a long way to go,” said the rector of the University of Padua, Daniela Mapelli, citing the 32% of women enrolled in scientific courses at her university. “If scientific subjects are tinged with pink, it is an advantage for the country system”, she observed.
There is still a lot to do according to Amalia Ercoli Finzi, the first Italian woman to graduate in aeronautical engineering and then move on to space. Happy with the choice that led her to be one of the five girls enrolled at the Milan Polytechnic, out of over 650 men, Ercoli Finzi is convinced that “if a woman wants to be an engineer, she must be able to do it, as men are allowed to do with serenity” and that “science and innovation are a gender issue because women are better than men”. Change is difficult, but possible, and must be done together with men. “Men must realize that the contribution of women is also to their advantage, it is not a competition”, said Ercoli Finzi again. “It is also time to change the evaluation rules dictated by males”, noted the immunologist Antonella Viola, of the University of Padua.
Along the same lines is Piera Levi Montalcini, granddaughter of the Italian Nobel Prize winner, for whom it is necessary to “bring the gender question back to very early childhood”: “as Aunt Rita said, we must learn to ask for what is ours, working on ourselves, pulling out of our abilities to fight”.
If there is a place in the world where “merit cannot fail to win”, this is Antarctica, said Chiara Montanari, the first Italian expedition leader in Antarctica. In a place where everyone’s work is essential for everyone’s safety, “gender stereotypes are destined to fall”.
Counting the women engaged in research and those who reach top positions, and making sure that the latter help the younger ones are the actions suggested by Cinzia Zuffada, who is Associate Chief Scientist of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Jpl) and president of the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation (Issnaf). “I manage JPL’s research programs and funds, and in this competitive environment, I am dedicated to making sure there is an equity of opportunity for women within,” she said. “Until 2010 it was very difficult to see the work of women within NASA, it was a lot but invisible; things changed with the Obama administration and the next step was to move from visibility and recognition to measure , and it emerged that the numbers of women who had reached top positions were low”.
Source: Ansa
I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
