Science academies and disciplinary groups have work to do on gender equality

Women have a valuable role to play across scientific disciplines - but can't do this without proper support. Katleho Seisa/Getty Images

Women remain under-represented in science careers and research all over the world. There are several reasons for this, including stereotypes about what kind of work women “can” or “should” do; patriarchal attitudes; and a lack of support for women pursuing science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers.

This isn’t just an abstract concern. Gender equality matters for many sound reasons. For one, it’s enshrined in international human rights law and it is one of the Sustainable Development Goals.