Author: Pas García

The Women in Physics Group (GEMF) of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics organised a symposium earlier this year. It was held in the frame of the XXXIX Biennal of the society in Donostia, Spain in July 2024. It aims to discuss issues related to strategies to increase the presence of women in physics, to make their achievements visible and to defend the interests and equal rights and opportunities of women physicists.

Pas García (left), president of the GEMF, introduced Ursula Keller (right).
The talk was entitled ‘Dual-comb generation from a single laser cavity’ - image: GEMF

Ursula Keller proposal and plenary presentation

Proposal for the theme of Dialogue 2: ‘Women's leadership in physics’ moderated by Itziar Otegui, head of outreach at CIC nanoGUNE. In this dialogue between a more senior (Ursula Keller from ETH Zurich) and junior (Irene Abril, member of our group and PhD student at the University of Cambridge, THANK YOU, IRENE!), the central challenges to achieve equality in science were addressed. They reviewed the data, analysed institutional strategies and highlighted that the process is stagnating. We must try to move towards a new model of inclusive leadership in which the importance of male allies is fundamental.

Symposium ‘Women in Physics’

As part of the Physics Biennial, the Women in Physics Symposium was held with the participation of 8 oral presentations. The GEMF symposium aimed to discuss issues related to strategies to increase the presence of women in physics, to make their achievements visible and to defend the interests and equal rights and opportunities of women physicists. The Symposium included an invited talk by Lorena Fernández, computer engineer, director of digital identity at the University of Deusto and STEAM disseminator, as well as an expert on gender and science, especially in the field of ICTs.

PART 1: Moderated by Màriam Tórtola, secretary-treasurer of the GEMF.

• Marta Seror, of the Institute of Physics of Cantabria. ‘Traces and Trails: Women Professors of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics in Spain’.

Marta recalled that the percentage of female professors in physics is 15%, and dedicated the presentation to the female professors of FAMN (Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics). In this study, she conducted a series of interviews with active and retired female professors from Spanish public universities, analysing the extent to which gender influences or has influenced their scientific careers and academic trajectories. In addition to the testimonies collected, another purpose of the study was to locate and highlight female professors in this discipline. The characteristics of this branch of knowledge make the physics of the very small a field in which women have played and continue to play a particularly relevant role.

• Míriam Comet-Donoso, Universitat de Barcelona, “No questions asked: gendered participation patterns in higher education in physics”

This study was also carried out by M. Romagosa-Torrallardona UB, T. Donoso-Vázquez,UB, A. T. Danielsson Stockholm University, P. Folgueiras-Bertomeu UB and S. Estradé UB. The study addressed the different dynamics in the participation of physics students in class according to their gender. Women tend to ask fewer questions than men, which reflects the social norms that prioritise obedience and non-disruptive behaviour in women. In contrast, men tend to engage in more explanatory discourse, in line with gender stereotypes that value confidence and competitiveness. The study employed a mixed design comprising quantitative observations (n=900) and, for the qualitative part, a focus group discussion that corroborated these disparities in classroom participation.

• Ana Xesús López Díaz, de la Universidad de A Coruña, “Gender approach in university teaching: activities of the Grupo de Innovación Docente Multidisciplinar para a Igualdade de Xénero (GIDMIX)”

This work also carried out by A. Ramil (UdC), M. Carreiro (UdC), C. López (UdC) and E. Aguayo (USC), highlighted the importance of teaching with a gender perspective to improve the quality and social relevance of the knowledge, technologies and innovations that are produced. It can also stimulate critical thinking and develop competencies that enable students to avoid gender blindness in their future professional practice. However, diagnoses of the degree of integration in the classroom reveal disparities between universities and, in general, partial integration. Among the causes identified are the lack of teacher training on gender issues and the lack of methodological guides on how to introduce the gender dimension, as well as practical examples of how to apply it in different subjects.

• Rocío Vilar Cortabitarte, of the Institute of Physics of Cantabria, ‘Strengthening equality and diversity at the Institute of Physics of Cantabria’.

S. Martinez, M. Ceballos, J. Piedra, J. Sáinz-Pardo, R. García, D. Herranz, L. Graafland, R. Domínguez,and K. Vaaiyapuri.
The talk presented the fantastic activities carried out by the Equality and Diversity Commission of the IFCA (CSIC-UC), which earned them the recognition of the second prize of the equality award granted by the CSIC in 2018. The work of the commission was also awarded the VI Equality Award of the University of Cantabria in 2022. The main objective of this commission is to include the gender and diversity perspective in the daily development of IFCA's scientific work.

PART 2: Moderated by Ana X. López, vice-president of the GEMF.

• Núria Garro, of Faculty of Physics of the University of Valencia, “Tornem als instituts: activities to make women in Physics studies more visible’”

The work was also carried out by M. Delgado, P. García-Martínez, S. Planelles and M. Tórtola, from the UVEG.
In this communication, the activity ‘Tornem als instituts’ was presented, carried out by students of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Valencia in the 22/23 and 23/24 academic years and supervised by the professors of the Comissió d'Igualtat. The activity consists of holding informative talks in secondary schools, with the speakers being students of the faculty and the educational centres targeted being those in which they themselves studied. In figures, ‘Tornem als instituts’ has been very well received: in the first two editions, a total of 45 students, 40 women and 5 men, signed up for the activity, and informative talks have been given in 34 schools in the three Valencian provinces. The estimated number of students receiving these talks is around 3,500.

• Màriam Tórtola, of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Valencia, ‘Meitner Project - Remembering the pioneers of Nuclear and Particle Physics’.

With the participation of C. Escobar, N. Falcó, I. Laderescu, O. Mena, A. Molina, R. Molina, M. Moreno, D. Muñoz, S. Orrigo, J. Palacios, S. Pastor, D. Rodríguez, S. Rubio, B. Rubio, J. L. Taín and M. Villaplana, from the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (CSIC / University of Valencia).
Proyecto Meitner is a scientific dissemination initiative with the aim of recovering and highlighting the contribution of the great pioneers of nuclear and particle physics through the figure of Lise Meitner. This project, which combines science with artistic disciplines, includes activities as diverse as a play, a conference on science and gender, a teaching mentoring programme, a science and art competition, videos on social networks and a lot of educational material to give visibility to women in science, bringing scientists of the past and present in Nuclear and Particle Physics to all audiences. Proyecto Meitner has received grants from organisations such as FECYT, CSIC, the University of Valencia and the Provincial Council of Valencia, and has been awarded the second STEAM Alliance prize for female talent by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in 2023.

• Matilde Ariza Montes, from the ‘Pedro Espinosa’ Secondary School, ‘Women scientists with the gait of giants’.

In this magnificent and inspiring presentation, Mati Ariza told us about the activities that she has been carrying out in her school for some time with the aim of making female profiles in the scientific world visible so that students can discover references in fields such as physics, thus encouraging scientific vocations from an early age. In this work, hundreds of women of national and international relevance have been searched for their achievements in science and, secondly, they have been selected for their actions, which have been worthy of the prominence they enjoy in the field of science. The work has led to the creation of a database for subsequent publication as a reference book.

Participation of the European Physical Society (EPS)

We would like to thank Gina Gunaratnam, Communication Coordinator, European Physical Society, that sent us the fantastic calendars of “Inspiring Physicist 2024” that we offered to participants.