Empowering women in STEM: UfM Webinar marks International Day of Women and Girls in Science
11 February 2025, online – On the occasion of the 10th International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) organized a webinar to highlight achievements, challenges, and opportunities for women in STEM across the Mediterranean region. The event brought together policymakers, researchers, and young professionals to discuss strategies for enhancing gender equality in scientific fields.
In his opening remarks, the Deputy Secretary General for Higher Education and Research, Joan Borrell, emphasized that science and technology play a crucial role in addressing global challenges, from climate change to food security, and that these challenges can only be met with the full engagement of women and girls in research and innovation.
The webinar featured keynote speaker Dr. Roula Khadra, an expert in water resources management, who underscored the role of science diplomacy in tackling regional challenges. She highlighted that although Mediterranean women make up 57% of STEM graduates, they remain underrepresented in leadership roles, calling for stronger policy measures to ensure their inclusion in decision-making processes.
This was followed by a dynamic panel discussion featuring speakers from academia, international organizations, and civil society, including Naouel Abdellatif Mami, Oumayma Raimi-Rodé, Alicia Pérez-Porro, Ayumi Moore Aoki, and Antonella Autino, who explored systemic challenges and opportunities for women in STEM. Speakers stressed the urgent need for structural reforms, sustained investments in digital learning, and mentorship networks to bridge gender disparities in research, innovation, and leadership.
The panelists highlighted several best practices and key recommendations, including:
- Developing mentorship programs that connect young women with successful female scientists and engineers to provide academic and career guidance.
- Increasing the visibility of women experts in media and science communication by actively seeking out female experts for interviews, panel discussions, and news articles.
- Encouraging organizations to make a public commitment to gender equality by signing pledges, setting specific, measurable goals for increasing the number of women in leadership and technical roles.
The Webinar concluded with an interactive Q&A session, where participants exchanged insights and discussed actionable solutions to enhance women’s representation in science and technology.
The discussions reinforced UfM’s commitment to fostering gender equality in STEM, emphasizing the importance of collective action to create more inclusive opportunities for women and girls across the Mediterranean.
