February 11 is the UN International Day of Women and Girls in the Sciences. Very few women are pursuing scientific careers. They are still discouraged from entering a male-dominated field, say MEPs Eva Kaili and Michèle Rivasi.
Nataliya Kosmyna is a young, 26-year-old researcher. Originally from Ukraine, she now works in a research centre in France. An artificial intelligence specialist, she showed how drones can be piloted using mind control.
Since Marie Curie became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for physics in 1911, more and more women have been pursuing scientific careers. However, today, just a third of researchers in the EU are women. They remain underrepresented in the research and development field and in high levels of decision-making.
Girls are afraid a bit of new technologies. The field seems to be occupied by men. I think in an early stage, we have to make them feel comfortable with the new technologies. And then we will get even more women in science. Almost 50% of all PhD graduates are actually women. But numerous social and cultural obstacles prevent women from embarking on a scientific career path.
As an MEP, I need more female scientists because there are subjects, whether it’s on nuclear energy, on health, on the problem of pills of the third or fourth generation, I have very few women with me who can solve the problems. It’s rarely the men who find solutions to these. We should really feminise the scientific field. MEPs regularly launch initiatives to encourage women to start careers in science. It’s also the objective of the International Day of Women and Girls in the Sciences.
