All-women team to break the ice in Antarctic research
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THE largest all-female expedition to Antarctica, comprising 76 scientists, is due to set sail from Argentina tomorrow in a quest to promote women in science and highlight the impact of climate change on the planet.
The international team will brave sub-zero temperatures to undergo a 20-day boot camp on the frozen continent aimed at developing their leadership skills and challenging male dominance of senior scientific roles.
Women make up only 28 percent of the world’s researchers and are particularly under-represented at senior levels, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says.
Yet greater female leadership is needed to fight climate change, which disproportionately affects women, according to Fabian Dattner, co-founder of the Antarctica initiative, Homeward Bound.
“Mother Nature needs her daughters,” said Dattner, an Australian entrepreneur and leadership coach.
Many of sub-Saharan Africa’s smallholder farmers — one of the groups hardest hit by more frequent and worsening drought linked to climate change — are women.
Natural disasters, which are expected to worsen with climate change, are also likely to kill more women and girls than men, a 2007 study from the London School of Economics showed.
Dattner set up the initiative after hearing a group of polar scientists joking that candidates had to have a beard to land a leadership role in Antarctic science.
“The message of Homeward Bound is to bring together this intelligent, capable group of women who are not seen, not recognized, and in large part somewhat sidelined,” Dattner said.
“Many scientists on the expedition have experienced some form of sexual harassment, discrimination and misogyny in their careers.” She hopes more than 1,000 women over the next decade will take part in the initiative to create a network of female scientists.
“We have to recognize that as women we are stronger together,” Dattner said.
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