About this Research Topic
Gender inequality represents one of the major problems that affect the academic world and scientific progress. Disciplines such as physics, chemistry and astronomy, are traditionally male dominated and it is generally well established that women remain underrepresented in such fields to this day. According to data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistic, less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women.
Throughout history, the contributions of female scientists to science have been extremely important like the pioneering work on radiation by Marie Curie and the astronomical observations of Vera Rubin, just to mention two of the most important female researchers. These are, of course, just two of the better-known examples. There are countless women who contributed to progress across a wide and ever-expanding field of science and STEM subjects, but received less recognition than their male counterparts. We are thinking of great scientists such as Henrietta Leavitt, Rosalind Franklin and Lise Meitner.
Scientific progress is only possible and greatly accelerated if we have gender equality. More women involved in a scientific field results in an expansion of the general knowledge in that field. Today, while a gender equal society might be seen as both beneficial and desirable, it is becoming extremely important to show, especially to younger generations, the growing impact of female researchers to science.
This Research Topic aims to highlight the impact of women researchers working in physics, chemistry and astronomy. We are interested in gathering original articles with the lead author and/or corresponding author being a woman as well as general perspectives on a specific field of research inspired/started/sparked by a woman in order to capture the lived experience of women in science.
We welcome also manuscripts celebrating the contribution of outstanding female researchers to science, and gender studies on the role of women in these fields, in order to make sense of the inequalities and the opportunities which science affords.
We also hope that this Research Topic will be the foundation of an international network of women researchers, a starting point for future collaborations and discussions.
Throughout history, the contributions of female scientists to science have been extremely important like the pioneering work on radiation by Marie Curie and the astronomical observations of Vera Rubin, just to mention two of the most important female researchers. These are, of course, just two of the better-known examples. There are countless women who contributed to progress across a wide and ever-expanding field of science and STEM subjects, but received less recognition than their male counterparts. We are thinking of great scientists such as Henrietta Leavitt, Rosalind Franklin and Lise Meitner.
Scientific progress is only possible and greatly accelerated if we have gender equality. More women involved in a scientific field results in an expansion of the general knowledge in that field. Today, while a gender equal society might be seen as both beneficial and desirable, it is becoming extremely important to show, especially to younger generations, the growing impact of female researchers to science.
This Research Topic aims to highlight the impact of women researchers working in physics, chemistry and astronomy. We are interested in gathering original articles with the lead author and/or corresponding author being a woman as well as general perspectives on a specific field of research inspired/started/sparked by a woman in order to capture the lived experience of women in science.
We welcome also manuscripts celebrating the contribution of outstanding female researchers to science, and gender studies on the role of women in these fields, in order to make sense of the inequalities and the opportunities which science affords.
We also hope that this Research Topic will be the foundation of an international network of women researchers, a starting point for future collaborations and discussions.
Keywords: Women in Science, Gender Equality, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
