National Science Day: India's women scientists stress on better support, fair policies in research

As the country marks the National Science Day on Friday, many leading Indian women scientists have stressed on the need for the right kind of support, equality, and gender-fair policies in the field of research.

National Science Day is celebrated on February 28 each year commemorating Indian physicist C V Raman's discovery in 1928 of the Raman effect -- the scattering of photons or light particles by matter.

Raman received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

Of the 607 Nobel medals awarded so far in scientific disciplines globally, just 20 have gone to women.

Noting that a career in science is a demanding and tough option, Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice-Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida said there are additional barriers -- often unintentional and unconscious ones -- which are put up along the career path of women in science.

"When such a career demands long hours, there are issues of lack of security and basic amenities that affect women more adversely than men in this society. We need to pay active attention to these preventable problems, Ghosh, a Professor of Physics, told PTI.

G Geetha, Professor and Head, Division of Research and Development at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab, emphasised on closing the gender gap, and moving towards women-led projects in science.

She noted that out of the 560 awardees of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, only 18 recipients have been women.

The prize is one of the highest multidisciplinary science awards in India.

According to Geetha, women represent only about a fifth of senior authors in all published research.

A study, published in the journal PLOS One in 2018, assessed 293,557 research articles from 54 journals, and found that "29.8 per cent of all research authors, and 33.1 per cent of the first, 31.8 per cent of the co-, and 18.1 per cent of the last authors were women."