The International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February offers an annual opportunity to spotlight the structural conditions that continue to shape scientific careers. This year an one-day event is under the theme “From vision to impact: Redefining STEM by closing the gender gap” is organized by the UNESCO. While formal equality has long been established on paper, the everyday reality in universities and research institutions is still marked by informal hierarchies, dependency relationships, and exclusive communication cultures. These dynamics influence who is heard, who is supported, and ultimately who advances.
„On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, UNESCO reaffirms that scientific progress can only meet the challenges of our time if it is shared, inclusive and driven by all.“
Khaled El-Enany, Director-General of UNESCO
A particularly revealing lens on these problems emerges when the path dependencies that shape academic careers are examined. How do women scientists navigate systems in which access to networks, mentorship, and institutional support is unevenly distributed? How many women can trace their academic development through a chain of female mentors and how many men have advanced through career paths in which no woman played a role at any stage? These questions expose the deep‑rooted asymmetries that continue to influence visibility, recognition, and opportunity in science.
The well-known story of Rosalind Elsie Franklin is an historic anecdote on how uneven power and recognition structures shape scientific careers: although her groundbreaking X‑ray diffraction work was essential to identifying the DNA double helix, the 1962 Nobel Prize went solely to James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins. Without any mentioning of Franklin, who had died in 1958. Her limited access to networks, her lower formal status in a male‑dominated environment, and Wilkins’s initial treatment of her as an assistant all influenced how her contributions were perceived. Weak data‑ownership rules and informal networks further enabled her findings to be shared without her knowledge, making Franklin’s case a stark illustration of how structural imbalances shape scientific recognition.
As the Bundesverband Promovierende e.V., we try to strengthen women in science by advocating for transparent supervision, fair working conditions, and academic cultures that counteract gender‑specific disadvantages. A key force behind this commitment is our Equal opportunity Officer Maren Weißig, whose dedicated engagement in the project „Conversations with PhD Candidates – Women discuss their science“ strengthens the visibility of female researchers in the discussions. Through the collective efforts of doctoral representations research environments can be created in which women can pursue their careers with equal opportunities and recognition. Lets work on this together!
