Science is one of the widest and has been a vast field of study since the advent of the human race. It encompasses each and every aspect of our society. Given this fact, it feels shameful to know that even the most widespread community has had trouble accommodating women alongside men, as equals? Agree to it or don’t, the statement i made above cannot be deemed false.
Women have to face myriad of challenges, no matter which path they choose to trail upon and the scientific avenue is no exception to it. As one delves deep in the history of this field, they can’t help but notice the sidelining of women scientists in the narration regarding the progress made in the field. From life sciences and philosophy to physical sciences and mathematics, all of these subjects have been constantly studied about and the spectrum of their knowledge seems to widen day by day. This has been the result of the wonderful ponderings of brilliant minds and while science itself does not assert much importance over the fact whether those brilliant minds belonged either to a male or a female, the self proclaimed heralders of the era of science seem to do so. For a long time, science itself has been used as an aid to support the absurd ideas as to how men have more scientific prowess than women, who seem to be suitable only for the domestic domain. Predetermined gender roles, along with the exclusion of women from formal education in the early years of university establishments, and the issue that we currently face i.e. the debarring of women from reaching higher ranks in the system are some of the most prominent reasons for the lack of representation of the female community. The scenario appears even more grim for the women and girls of a developing country like India. Names like Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, Rosalind Franklin, Theano, Rajeshwari Chatterjee, Bhiba Chaudhari are a few examples of the prodigal intellect that a woman can possess as well as any man could and the fact that many of these names sound new to you is the testimony of the statements I made above about such women receiving their due accolades. Marie Curie is one of the most exemplary scientists of all times and her work has proved to be pivotal for the progress of the physical sciences and yet, it might come as a surprise, she was about to be left behind while the nobel prize in physics was being given. The committee had decided to honour only the two other scientists involved in the same research, Henry Becqeurel and Pierre Curie, who was her husband as well and it was only after Pierre’s complaint that she was included and became the first woman to be awarded a Nobel prize, further on becoming the first person to be awarded two Nobel prizes. This instance sheds light over the two important problems. First, why does a woman who has indeed proved her sagacity in the best possible manner, fails to meet the eyes of those whose sole task is to identify such prodigies? Second, how the support from fellow colleagues is crucial not only for the better recognition of women but for the betterment of the scientific community in itself.
The involvement of women in STEM fields shot up between the 1970s and 1990s but since then the increase has only been marginal. Out of the 48 nobel prizes that have been awarded to women, only about 20 have been given to women in sciences. Is that all the contribution that the women of our society gave, sums up to? Absolutely not.
We have a responsibility as a nation, as the citizen of the world,that us, our daughters followed by the next generation of powerful women and so on, never give up on their dreams of making a mark in the scientific field and don’t let their talents be blotted by the contemptuous misogyny
that ails our society. This change needs the support of all of us, irrespective of our race,gender or any other identity that differentiates between us.
To all the young girls who are in love with science;
“We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
- Marie Curie
Piece by-
Hooriah Lodi
B.Sc. Physics (Hons)
First year
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