The ‘leaky pipeline’, not only a problem of terminology

The first event of the year for the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) has been its Global Women’s Breakfast, on Wednesday 16 February 2022. For this key event, EuChemS invited Lutgarde Buydens (Radboud University), Jovana V. Milić (University of Fribourg), and Lesley Yellowlees (University of Edinburgh) to address the necessity to have more women in senior positions in STEM. Amongst other topics, the speakers discussed the importance of leadership and mentorship programmes to support women’s careers in science, they presented some of the gender bias in academia and commented on current data available in this regard. This event was also an opportunity to debate on possible solutions to address the senior leadership issue in STEM.

This interactive webinar, which was chaired and moderated by Pilar Goya, EuChemS Vice-President, was yet another success: more than 130 participants from 27 different countries joined to network and debate on the topics addressed during this event. The feedback of these discussions will be carefully considered by the EuChemS Task Group on Inclusion and Diversity, for follow up actions.

Floris Rutjes, EuChemS President, welcomed the participants and reaffirmed EuChemS’ engagement to promote inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences.

The GWB, a global meeting in support of diversity

The Global Women’s Breakfast (GWB) is an initiative launched in 2019 by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The aim is to invite science organisations worldwide to set up breakfasts in celebration of the accomplishments of women in science and to inspire younger generations to pursue STEM careers. The Global Breakfast events took place each year since, in conjunction with the United Nations Day of Women and Girls in Science, which is celebrated on 11 February. This year, more than 400 breakfasts were organised in 75 countries.

Next year’s Global Women’s Breakfast is scheduled to happen on Tuesday 14 February 2023 – save the date, EuChemS will be there.