(8 March 2017) The world of physics, medicine, engineering may seem dominated by men, but much of the research and discoveries are made by female scientists. On the occasion of Women's Day, the Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney in cooperation with the Office of Science and Technology attaché of the Italian Embassy of Canberra, is organising the "The Italian Women in Science" conference that aims to reflect on gender equality in a traditionally male environment and to enhance the presence of Italian female scientists in Australian universities. The conference will be held on March 9 to 18 at the Italian Cultural Institute and will present research of the Italian scholars who work in Australian universities. Donatella Cannova, the director of the ICI and Oscar Moze, Science Attaché of the Italian Embassy in Canberra will give opening remarks and offer a brief overview of Italian women in science from antiquity to the present day. The Italian scientists will then present their research and talk about their career paths after relocating from Italy to Australia. (PO / Red)

GENDER EQUALITY IN SCIENCE

The number of women who hold a PhD in the scientific field is substantial in both Italy and Australia. Despite this, we are still far from gender equality in the sciences: less than 20% of women in Australia and less than 10% of women in Italy hold promising careers within universities and research centres.