Notice Board

The 5th IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics concluded recently at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON. It was the first time that a conference in this series was held in North America, the previous ones being held in South Korea, Brazil, France and South Africa. Two female physicists members of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Adriana Predoi-Cross and Arundhati Dasgupta,  were two of over 215 scientists from 52 countries from all corners of the world, who registered for the  conference. Both were members on the conference Local Organizing Committee.

The meeting, held 5 to 8 August, 2014 was dedicated to celebrating the physics achievements of women throughout the world, networking toward new international collaborations, gaining skills for career success, and aiding the formation of active regional working groups to advance women in physics.  Delegates came from African, Asian, European, Latin American, North American, and island nations. Each country team reported on the actions and progress in their country since the Conference of 2011, and  learned from the experiences of other countries. Through participation in the Conference, the teams returned home with a renewed focus on specific actions to initiate or continue changes that will lead to increasing the participation and advancement of women in physics. Another specific goal of the conference was to further revitalize and strengthen the robust international support network nucleated at the four  previous international conferences, which is helping catalyze systemic change. Finally, the conference increased  the scientific visibility of women doing physics research and thereby put a spotlight on women's contributions to physics internationally.

The conference featured plenary talks by distinguished speakers from around the world such as: Melissa Franklin, Mallinckrodt Professor and Chair of Physics, Harvard University; Silvia Torres-Peimbert, Institute of Astronomy, Mexico City University and President Elect of the Executive Committee, International Astronomical Union; Sabine Stanley, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Planetary Physics, University of Toronto;  Tsai-Chien Chiang, Editor in Chief of the China Times and author of "Madam Wu Chien-Shiung: The First Lady of Physics Research" and Patience Mthunzi, Senior Research Scientist, CSIR South Africa.

Apart from the scientific excellence of these amazing women scientists, the story of their personal journeys was also shared with the conference participants. From Melissa Franklin’s search for “a lab of one’s own” that left her unable to breath, to Patience Mthunzi being mocked due to her zulu background, these personal journeys highlighted the inner struggles of many outstanding female physicists. When Sabine Stanley mentioned that her spouse was ready to follow her career path, there was an audible sigh of relief and happiness from the physicist audience.

Workshops of invited and contributed talks on “how to do” were offered to guide and empower the international community of women physicists in several ways. The five well attended parallel workshop sessions covered the following themes: “Gender Studies in Physics”, “Improving Workplace Environment for Women in Physics”, “Physics Education”, “Cultural Perception and Bias in Science Practice and Ethics”, “Professional Development and Leadership roles for Women in Physics”.

There was an exciting panel discussion featuring women who have successful, unconventional career paths following undergraduate physics degrees. The panel included Sandy Aix and Eileen Pollack who now play important roles in writing and communicating science’ and in highly educational outreach activities. The interactive discussions offered valuable opportunities to the young members of the audience to ask questions and learn more about different career options that are available to them.

The Canadian team Chaired by Li-Hong Xu from University of New Brunswick worked for almost two years to plan and prepare this conference. Arundhati Dasgupta coordinated the workshops, and Adriana Predoi-Cross, Director of Communications for the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP), welcomed the participants on behalf of CAP. She told the assembled participants, "I believe the positive effect of ICWIP 2014 will go beyond the physics community and will have a strong effect on women leaders in all fields of science and technology." Adriana and the Chair of the Local Organizing Committee, Shohini Ghose, are co-editors of a special issue of Physics in Canada dedicated to this conference that is scheduled to be published in spring 2015.

Here are a few comments from participants received following the meeting. A young attendee from South Africa said, "Attending this conference has been hugely inspiring to me. I met so many women physicists who are incredibly successful. I am excited to follow in their footsteps. My research area of biophysics is a wellspring of innovation for our economy and is helping our society by providing the life-saving treatment methods of kidney dialysis, radiation therapy, cardiac defibrillators, and pacemakers." A mid-career participant from Nepal mentioned that "The opportunity to network with potential colleagues has been valuable to me.  I hope to collaborate with experts from neighboring Asian countries and make a highly significant contribution to educational reforms that support K-12 education and the understanding of informal learning experience across many parts of Asia and other parts of the World."

A senior career participant from the Netherlands said "It was exciting to learn from all the countries at the conference, and to see so many bright young physicists—both women and men—who are passionate about their research and committed to attracting girls to physics and advancing women." One of the few male conference participants, from the US, said  "I have never been at a physics conference with so many women. I learned a lot and will be helping make physics friendlier for women, because we need their ideas for the field, the country, and the world to thrive."

Worldwide fewer than 15% of physicists are women. More than 90% of the conference attendees were women. It was clear that the scarcity of women in physics, especially in leadership positions, is a problem for many countries. They cannot benefit fully from women's ideas and approaches to improve their economic competitiveness or solve difficult problems, such as energy, health, and global sustainability.

Women, men, institutions, and governments need to work together to encourage, educate, recruit, retain, advance, and promote more girls and women in physics and other science and technology professions. To that end, the conference participants unanimously approved a resolution that will be presented at the next General Assembly International Union of Pure and Applied Physics meeting in  October 2014.