On the morning of November 2, the World's Top Scientists Forum held a special sub-forum, the "She" Forum. At the "She" forum, more than 10 top Chinese and foreign female scientists who have made great achievements in different fields gathered together to demonstrate the wisdom and strength of women in science and technology in helping to cope with global challenges and improve the international innovation governance system. At the same time, the initiative gathers forces from all walks of life to support the growth of young women in all aspects.
Since 1998, L'Oréal and UNESCO have co-founded the World Outstanding Women Scientist Award, which brings women scientists into the public eye and encourages young women to pursue careers in science. To date, 112 women scientists have been awarded, five of whom have won Nobel Prizes.
In China, female scientists have made outstanding achievements in various fields of STEM. Tu Youyou is the first chinese scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Science; Hu Hailan, who has just won the 2022 "World Outstanding Women Scientist Award", is the youngest winner in the history of the award; in the fields of manned spaceflight and high-speed rail, women science and technology workers have played a key role. Pushing more women into science has formed a broad consensus in China.
In the view of Ye Shuhua, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former director of the Shanghai Observatory, equality between men and women does not mean that women are stronger than men, but equal access to opportunities. Michael Levitt, vice president of the World's Leading Scientists Association and the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, also said that diversity is the most important principle behind all life. But for too long, in a male-dominated society, women's talents have been ignored and half of human intelligence has been wasted. Therefore, today there is an urgent need to integrate the wisdom and strength of women to jointly cope with the common challenges facing mankind such as the epidemic, food problems, and the climate crisis, and to make the world a better place together.
Column Editor-in-Chief Xu Sufei
Responsible Editor Liu Wanxin
Photography ni Zhuxin