ESO celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022

Today marks the United Nations’ International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The day aims to promote equal access to science for women and girls, serving as a reminder that they play a critical role in science and technology communities, and that their participation in them should be promoted. ESO has taken important steps towards diversity and inclusion of all genders, including over the past year, and will be hosting a week of activities to celebrate this day.

In October 2021, as part of the  agreement between ESO and UN Women signed in 2020, ESO started participating in the Second Chance programme (Tu Oportunidad) in Chile. In partnership with UN Women, ESO began to train seven Chile-based women in key astronomical technical skills, such as the coating of large telescope mirrors, which will allow them to expand their job opportunities and gain the skills to work in top astronomical observatories. Additionally, several colleagues from ESO in Chile have joined a mentoring project, LIQCAU, led by the Universities of Antofagasta, focused at increasing the participation of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

ESO is always looking for ways to address diversity and inclusion in a broader sense, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. For example, ESO has promoted the participation of female astronomers in the panels that evaluate observing proposals for ESO telescopes, recently achieving gender balance in their composition. Moreover, ESO is a member of the GENERA network, which aims to foster collaboration in gender equality policy in physics between research organisations, associations and consortia worldwide as well as internationally established physics communities and projects.

To inspire women and girls to pursue a career in science, this week we are highlighting a diverse range of roles and career paths of women at ESO on the ESOblog. We have also been highlighting the day-to-day work of female astronomers and engineers on our social media channels.

ESO is also participating in the EIROforum celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science by calling for children of ESO staff and of their friends and families to get creative and celebrate the day by submitting a drawing on the theme of Women in Science. EIROforum, of which ESO is a founder, is the European Intergovernmental Research Organisation forum and brings together eight of Europe’s largest research organisations.

Additionally, to celebrate women in astronomy, the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre in Garching, Germany, is hosting an online public talk on exoplanets organised by the neighbouring Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.

As ESO looks to the future, we will conduct regular reviews of procedures including the recruitment and career development process to ensure it is as unbiased as possible. In particular, we aim to increase ESO visibility to young female engineers by maintaining close contact with the Society of Women Engineers, for example. ESO is also preparing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan to help attract a more diverse workforce and continue promoting an enabling environment for all, and in particular for women.

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory