International Women’s Day has been marked on 8 March since 1913, when rallies were held to campaign for women's rights to work, vote, hold public office and end discrimination. Today it is a global day to celebrate and highlight the achievements of women while continuing to call for gender parity.
We have come a long way since the early 1900s, yet the World Economic Forum recently calculated that it will take another 108 years to reach gender parity (WEF Global Gender Gap report 2018). In our field, women make up only a third of the scientific workforce in Europe, while just 17% of UK farmers are female. Yet the future looks bright. Female students enrolling in agriculture-related higher education now outnumber male. Between 2011 and 2020, the number of women accepted onto UK STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) undergraduate courses increased by 50.1%.
Women are well-represented at all levels and roles at the GWCT, and each year we look forward to the contribution of our placement students – of every gender. Ahead of International Women’s Day 2022, we asked a few of the GWCT’s many talented women about making it in conservation. Read their interviews below.