Thread by @frantecol

Women in science, a thread in numbers 👇 (1/x)

This is a talk I gave for our MSc Earth Sciences students today

#InternationalWomensDay

I started by asking them if they regard or treat me differently than they do male teachers or professors. They said they didn't (2/x)

But they probably do! (3/x)

Because a lot of people do address women differently to men, by not using their title for example (4/x)

Or by addressing women by their first name and men by their last name. (5/x)

Women scientists also get far more abuse on social media, for example. (6/x)

And these are just a few things that are evidence of the unequal treatment of women in academia. (7/x)

In ecology, only 11% of top-publishing authors are women. (8/x)

And having children negatively affects women's careers, but not men's. (9/x)

This motherhood penalty is present in all fields of academia. (10/x)

But it's very important to view these data through an intersectional lens.... (11/x)

...because these disadvantages increase exponentially if you are also a woman of colour, disabled, or queer, for example. (12/x)

Now I'm going to zoom in on The Netherlands a bit. Because don't we all think that this is such an equal country? Well, we're bottom of the list here. (13/x)

And the gender pay gap in academia is much higher than the total pay gap in The Netherlands. (14/x)

While the gender balance is pretty much 50-50 in students, the proportion of women declines strongly when you go up the career ladder, and women represent only 24% of full professors. (15/x)

Earth Sciences is one of the least diverse fields. (16/x)

Which is probably in part caused by the field work culture, which can be non-inclusive and even dangerous. (17/x)

Zooming in on soil science, a traditionally male-dominated field, we see the same pattern: a stark decrease in the representation of women with increasing career stage. (18/x)

And the male/female balance of our Earth Sciences degree is also pretty much 50-50. (19/x)

So if we start here, I see a bright future! (20/x)

Here is my pledge for #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge

I challenge you to also make a pledge! (21/end)

You can watch the talk here:

And yes, I really need to be standing up and walking around when I'm presenting - I'm bouncing around on my chair here!