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Our Event Celebrating Women in Science

Saturday 8th March 2025 marked International Women’s Day (IWD), a day to honour and celebrate the achievements of women globally, as well as strive towards gender equality. In order to mark this important day, WiNUK held an exciting event in collaboration with the Rosalind Franklin Institute. Read on to find out more about our day at ‘Women in Science: Overcoming Barriers and Unlocking New Career Opportunities’!


IWD has been celebrated for over 100 years, and although it is an opportunity to champion the successes of women, it is also an important time to highlight the barriers and biases that affect women, both personally and professionally. WiNUK regularly addresses the sexism and gender biases which affect women in neuroscience; however, it may come as no surprise that these issues affect the wider scientific and academic communities too. The figure below demonstrates the drastic gap in the number of women and men in senior research career roles (European Commission: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, 2021).


The proportion (%) of men and women in a typical academic career, students and academic staff, EU-28, 2015–2018. Source: European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, She figures 2021, Fig 6.1. Original data from Women in Science database, DG Research and Innovation – T1_questionnaires, Education Statistics.
The proportion (%) of men and women in a typical academic career, students and academic staff, EU-28, 2015–2018. Source: European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, She figures 2021, Fig 6.1. Original data from Women in Science database, DG Research and Innovation – T1_questionnaires, Education Statistics.

A recent paper, co-authored by our founder Lizzie English, found that 52% of female early career dementia researchers had experienced sexism in the research environment (Smith et al., 2025). Sexism is prevalent in other scientific disciplines too, with a survey of over 5000 scientists from different fields (in 117 countries) reporting that 49% of female scientists had experienced sexual harassment at work and 81% had experienced at least one incident of sexism in their career. Furthermore, 64% believed the actions taken by their workplaces to prevent or combat this was inadequate (Tétaz and Vacas, 2023). These statistics show the need for urgent change to retain and encourage more women into scientific careers.



Why the Rosalind Franklin Institute?


What better place to discuss these issues, and the actions we can all take to overcome them than the Rosalind Franklin Institute. Named after Rosalind Franklin, a now-celebrated scientist, this institute was the perfect backdrop to encourage conversations around recognition and appreciation of female researchers. It wasn’t until after Franklin’s death that the importance of her research detailing the helical nature of DNA was acknowledged. Her groundbreaking work provided fundamental understanding for the elucidation of its molecular structure, for which James Watson and Francis Crick won the Nobel Prize, with Franklin’s efforts largely overlooked. This is just one example of what we are working to change.




A Discussion on Sex/Gender in Research


Our first key speaker Professor Lise Eliot, an academic from the Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago and the author of ‘Pink Brain, Blue Brain’, opened the event with a fascinating talk on the extent to which sex/gender affects brain development. She highlighted the minimal biological differences between male and female brains in childhood, and how research has in fact demonstrated that neurodevelopment is most impacted by societal and environmental factors related to gender identity and norms. Eliot also addressed the sex/gender disparities in health research, and what can be done to tackle them.




The follow-up panel discussion with Dr Guida Ruas, Dr Cara Croft, Dr Chloe Pasin and Genevieve Hayes acting as panellists, posed the question “How does sex/gender impact research and how can we make it more equal?”. This informative discussion highlighted the impact of sex/gender in research, from in vitro systems through to clinical trials, with each panellist explaining the considerations they make in their own work. Key points of discussion included the lack of availability and funding for diverse models in wet lab research, the importance of including sex/gender as a factor in both preclinical and clinical research, and the urgent need to collect more information about women’s health for stratification in clinical trials.


This was followed by a short networking and refreshment break, where thought-provoking conversations continued!




What is it Like to be a Woman in Science?


The second half of the event opened with our second key speaker, Shefali Sharma, the co-founder of Oxford Dynamics. Sharma gave a truly inspiring talk on her experiences in academia and the workplace as a female immigrant to the UK. She emphasised the importance of  speaking out against sexism whenever it occurs and of staying resilient in the face of adversity . Sharma also highlighted the need for a supportive and encouraging network to guide you on your career journey.



We then had two fascinating short talks from Dr Deborah Bogani, Head of Communications at the MRC Mary Lyon Centre and Dr Lorna McInroy, Director of Clinical Biomarkers at Moderna. Both shared their journeys from their initial undergraduate degrees to where they are now, with the career pivots they experienced along the way. Bogani and McInroy showed that career paths are not always linear, and that different opportunities should be considered as valuable experiences to expand your skill set. They also discussed changes in their careers after having children, and the importance of setting your own boundaries. 



This led us nicely to our second panel discussion with Dr Joanna Correia Lima, Dr Michelle Stewart, Dr Jane Wibley and Dr Karina Pombo-Garcia on “What career boundaries exist for women and how do we overcome them?”. The panellists shared their, often complex, paths to the position they are in now, highlighting the many different and non-traditional routes into science. The highly-engaging discussion addressed many difficult topics from conscious and unconscious bias, differences in the treatment of men and women in science, considerations for having a family, and their own personal difficulties they have faced in their careers. However, the resounding take home message was the sense of achievement they feel after years of hard work and resilience, and how they are now able to have a positive impact on future generations of women and inspire their communities. 




Rounding Up Our Conversation


The fantastic event ended with more networking and a feedback session for people to share their own thoughts and experiences, many of whom expressed the wish for more events like these, mentorship schemes, and the inclusion of male colleagues in events and training to help to challenge these issues. It was an incredible day, with engaging discussion from a wide array of career positions -  from postgraduate students to group leaders to industrial researchers - which left everyone feeling motivated to take action in their own workplaces. We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who attended the event, both in-person and online, our brilliant hosts, speakers and panellists, and of course to the Rosalind Franklin Institute for hosting and facilitating such a thought-provoking and inspiring day!


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This article was written by Shauna Angell and Becky Csöndor and edited by Rebecca Pope, with graphics produced by Suzana Sultan. If you enjoyed this article, be the first to be notified about new posts by signing up to become a WiNUK member (top right of this page)! Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch.


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