International Day of Women and Girls in Science

WHY IN NEWS?

February 11 was the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It was established by the United Nations to promote equal access to and participation in science for women and girls.

ABOUT WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SCIENCE

• According to a 2018 fact sheet prepared by UNESCO on women in science, just 28.8% of researchers are women.
• It defines researchers as “professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge”. In India, this drops to 13.9%.
• Between 1901 and 2019, 334 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 616 Laureates in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine, of which just 20 have been won by 19 women. The double Laureate is Marie Curie.
• In 2019, the American mathematician Karen Uhlenbeck became the first woman to win the Abel Prize, following 16 male mathematicians.
• The Fields Medal so far has also been awarded to only one woman mathematician, the late Maryam Mirzakhani of Iran, as opposed to 59 men since 1936.

Prelims Question

Q. International Day of Women and Girls in Science was established by?
a)UN
b)World Bank
c)International Alliance of Women
d)Women in STEM

Answer to the Prelims Question