Change in the academic environment is inevitable. We are launching a campaign for International Women and Girls in Science Day

Gender and Science department of the Institute of Sociology will celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science for the tenth time this year. Czech science can no longer ignore the structural inequalities that lead to a talent drain and suppression of the potential of women and other marginalised groups. In the spirit of this year’s international motto Accelerate Action, we want to emphasize that change is not only desirable, but necessary.

What needs to change to make Czech science fair for all? These are the questions that the Gender and Science team is asking, and the same question we put to Czech women scientists and science students. “To accelerate change, we need the leadership of institutions and teams. First and foremost, we need to acknowledge that science does not always work fairly, that there are systemic obstacles and that it is the responsibility of the leadership of institutions to remove them. It’s time to move away from the notion that it’s about the individual choices of women scientists and how they make things work at home. No, it’s about how the university or research institute has set it up,” says Marcela Linková, head of the Gender and Science department.

This year’s NKC campaign for International Women and Girls Day will run for a month, until Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day in March. Its international motto this year is Accelerate Action: that is why we also want to highlight the need for transformation in the Czech academic environment. What prevents women scientists from developing successful scientific careers? What barriers do they have to face? What do they wish would change?

According to the latest data from the Gender and Science’ Monitoring report, the Czech Republic is at the bottom of all EU countries in terms of the representation of women in science. Yet women significantly outnumber men at all levels during university studies. However, they face structural barriers that prevent them from advancing in research, let alone in leading groups or higher ranks of the academic hierarchy. This situation not only harms female scientists themselves, but also weakens the quality and diversity of Czech science.

Women and LGBT+ people face stereotypes, deep-rooted sexism or bullying already in their studies, most often in the context of medicine. “The mental health of women scientists and the demands of their work are increasingly discussed in the media, but this does not mean that academia has seen real change. However, Czech science cannot afford to lose talent and face an outflow of people to other countries or sectors. During the campaign, we want to show concretely what female scientists and students are experiencing and what changes would potentially stop this negative trend,” says Barbora Schneiderová, on behalf of Gender and Science.

We launch the campaign on 11 February 2025, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.

You can find the press release (in czech) on this link.