The United Nations General Assembly declared the 11th of February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
The Italian Embassy in Australia celebrated this recurrence by recording a double interview to two brilliant young women scientists, highlighting the analogies and the differences that a young woman could face when pursuing a scientific career in Italy or in Australia.
Meganne Christian is an Australian chemical engineer and astronaut, who studied in Australia and moved to Italy to become a scientist at the National Research Council (CNR) in Bologna. In November 2022, Meganne was selected as a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut reserve.
Ilaria Pagani is an Italian molecular biologist and medical genetist who studied in Italy and moved to Australia to become a researcher at the South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in Adelaide. Ilaria is also the president of the Association of Italian Researchers in Australasia (ARIA).
Through this double interview we follow their journey into the scientific world, the barriers they faced, and how they did overcome, the situation girls interested in science would find today in Australia and Italia and the measures they proposes to further reduce the gender gap in science.
Through their determination and their success, the Embassy of Italy in Australia would like to provide today girls with an example and an encouragement to follow their passion and never stop to be curious about science and knowledge. We strongly believe that equal opportunities and the empowerment of women and girls in research, and in particular in STEMM, will make a crucial contribution not only to the economic development of the world, but also to progress across all the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Whatch here the double interview
