Building Bridges to Promote Gender Inclusivity in Science
The focus group “Building Bridges to Promote Gender Inclusivity in Science” consists of Anna Boyksen Fellow Prof. Shobhana Narasimhan (Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research) and her hosts Prof. Johannes Barth (TUM Department of Physics) and Dr. Eva Sandmann (TUM Gender Equality Office). This Focus Group’s primary aim is to increase the engagement of TUM with the community of gender minorities in science in the developing world who are in early stages of their careers, as well as to foster their career development. These scientists have to struggle with a lack of basic infrastructure and poor access to scientific equipment and resources. In addition, they frequently have to challenge prevailing societal norms regarding gender roles. We aim to help these scientists build scientific contacts and collaborations with research groups at TUM, help them acquire soft skills that will better equip them to rise in their careers, and aid them in forming a community that can act as a support network. We wish to raise awareness of the challenges they face, as well as the ways in which they have succeeded in overcoming obstacles. We are also interested in studying the factors that affect the participation and retention of gender minorities in science. For example, we have recently discovered interesting (and surprising) correlations between the percentage of women scientists in a country and its per-capita GDP.