SAVE THE DATE: 29 March 2021
The event will be live streamed at this Youtube link: https://youtu.be/usojP5Hchy0

Out of three science researchers, only one is a woman. According to 2014 - 2016 UNESCO Institute of Statistics data, only 30 percent of all female students select science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related fields in higher education. Globally, female students’ enrolment is particularly low in ICT (3 percent), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5 percent) and in engineering, manufacturing and construction (8 percent).

While there are a significant number of women in the sciences in the Philippines, the country doesn’t fare any better in terms of stereotypes, with more women found in the medical sciences compared to the low number in engineering. The country also has the lowest number of full-time equivalent researchers (FTE’s) in Southeast Asia at 78 million per population, at only 189 researchers for one million Filipinos, while the global standard is 380 researchers per million.

Studies have shown that prevailing biases and gender stereotypes and low investment in higher education, science, technology and innovation, deter girls and women from science related fields.

The Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 emphasized persisting gender inequalities in STEM and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 called on Member States to implement strategic measures to close the gender gap in STEM, to ensure that women and girls not only benefit from STEM but also play an equal and active role across its value chain.

In response, the Philippines co-sponsored the Malta-led resolution declaring 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (A/RES/70/212) which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 22 December 2015 to emphasize the urgent need and importance of advancing gender equality in STEM to secure sustainable and inclusive development.

In 2017, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) launched the Space4Women project, an initiative which aims to encourage women and girls to pursue education and career opportunities in STEM, as well as to raise awareness about the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the space sector.

In celebration/commemoration of the International Women’s Month/Day and the International Day for Women and Girls in Science (11 February), and in line with the theme of the 65th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women on strengthening women's participation in decision-making and public life, the Office of the United Nations and International Organizations (UNIO) in partnership with the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Philippine Mission in the United Nations in Vienna, Austria (Vienna PE), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), and United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) will hold a webinar on advancing gender equality in space and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) on 29 March 2021.

The webinar aims to provide a platform for the following objectives:
1. contribute to the promotion of full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls;
2. present the current gender situation, contributing factors to gender inequality in these fields, and the existing policies and programs to enhance women’s participation in the space sector and in STEM, including temporary special measures of national governments to ensure gender balance in space agencies such as gender quotas;
3. discuss the challenges and opportunities, including policy responses to close the gender gap to advancing gender equality in the PH space science and technology sector; and
4. contribute to the UNOOSA initiative Space4Women.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Please register at https://tinyurl.com/4kwjshk4 to receive the Zoom log-in credentials.