International Day of Women and Girls in Science and support of women in STEM

International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGIS) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, is a day to encourage female participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields; and to celebrate those that are leading action and innovation around the world.

This year IDWGS will be recognised on 11 February 2023. The theme focuses on bringing everyone forward for sustainable and equitable development - the importance of gender equality as it relates to sustainability. It is clear gender inequalities still exist, particularly in the field of STEM. However, women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and their participation should be encouraged and empowered.

FB Rice supporting women in STEM

At FB Rice, we are strong advocates of diversity and inclusion and promote full and equal access and participation of females in STEM. For this reason, we are a huge supporter of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering’s scholarship program, named Elevate. A fabulous initiative that seeks to increase the inclusion of not only women but other minority groups in STEM fields.

Beata Khaidurova, Senior Associate in our engineering team works with a number of female scientists and engineers. She was selected as a member of the Elevate Advisory committee, which was formed to guide the strategy and implementation of the program.

“I look forward to continuing my work with the Elevate Advisory committee, and encourage everyone to use the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science to consider what they can be doing to boost women in STEM.”

– Beata Khaidurova, Senior Associate, FB Rice.

Hear more from Beata Khaidurova as she shares the importance of boosting women in STEM, and her involvement with the Elevate Scholarship Program. Thank you Beata for helping us share this important message.

Elevate Scholarship Program

The $41.2 million program aims to boost women in STEM, and particularly encourages applications from individuals who identify as members of other minority and disadvantaged groups.

In addition to providing financial support, the program aims to address gender inequities in STEM by fostering more women-led industry-academia collaborations in applied research and business, growing the professional skills of women in STEM, and propelling women into leadership. It’s great to see 50 scholarship recipients have been announced to date.

Find out more about the Elevate.