Women in Science: “Working in a Women-Led Research Team Allows for Flexibility, Inclusiveness and Openness”
To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11th February, the female scientists who lead the Global Center on Adaptation’s Research for Impact Team open up about the rewards of working with female colleagues, the challenges faced by women in their field, and offer advice and inspiration on how to overcome them.
O
nly 33 percent of researchers around the world are women, and they receive less funding and are less likely to be promoted than their male counterparts.
However, at the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), things look slightly different.
In May 2022, Dr. Fleur Wouterse was appointed Director of Research and set out to lead GCA’s Research for Impact (R4I) team. The team, based at GCA’s Knowledge and Innovation Hub in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands, is predominantly female – seven out of 12 researchers are women.
“R4I strives to be socially inclusive and make people from underrepresented groups, such as female researchers, feel like they belong so that they are confident and comfortable to bring their true selves and points of view to work. Divergent points of view are essential for the development and implementation of a relevant and interdisciplinary adaptation research agenda,” said Dr. Wouterse, who has more than 20 years of experience in academia and international research organizations.
The R4I team is linked to the University of Groningen and is GCA’s knowledge backbone, accelerating research, filling in information gaps, and enabling urgent adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
As Dr. Wouterse explained, “adaptation is a complex and multifaceted subject that is evolving rapidly as climate change impacts the world in ever more challenging ways” and there is a large research agenda to fill the knowledge gaps.
GCA’s R4I team focuses learning, capacity building and knowledge dissemination, by supporting products such as GCA’s flagship report, the annual State and Trends in Adaptation series launched in 2020, and events including summer schools and climate-smart learning events.
The team manages GCA’s Adaptation Knowledge Portal, an online platform that provides the latest data and information on climate adaptation and facilitates knowledge-sharing and learning and feeds knowledge into other GCA knowledge platforms, such as the recently launched Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation.
Recognizing the continuous need to focus on enhancing inclusivity in the workplace and the scientific community, several members of the R4I team shared their views and experiences as women in science in an international, women-led team:
“The relevance of research reaches way beyond academia and results are applicable in every domain to solve a specific problem or provide innovative solutions to issues affecting an individual, group or society. Determination gets you a long way.”
– Dr. Fleur Wouterse, R4I Director of Research (Netherlands)
“Working in a women-led research team allows for flexibility, inclusiveness and openness. At R4I I feel supported and motivated by the women I work with. In general, men still tend to occupy more senior positions in scientific fields. Therefore, it is progressive that the leadership at R4I is women-led. As a woman, seeing other women in high-profile positions inspires me to reach that level in the future as well. Therefore, I believe having women in senior positions is essential to pave the way for future women-led teams.”
– Ysabella Goedhart, R4I Junior Program Officer (Netherlands/United States)
“Where I come from, the societal belief is that men are more fit for science than women, so we are kind of ignored. But me, coming from a family of five girls, we all are into science except one of us. Mainly, the support and push came from our parents and our teachers. This is my first time in a women-led research team and it’s natural, pure, learning with peace of mind and growth, no laziness but not in fear.”
– Folake Kareem, R4I Research Analyst (Nigeria)
“I would say the greatest difficulty that women in science face today is being taken seriously and having to prove their worth and credibility in the field.”
– Julia Eichhorn, R4I Research Analyst (South Africa)
“We have to make sure that all women have access to the same opportunities. Then, to empower women and ensure they have the confidence and determination to occupy male-dominated spaces and make their voices heard when others do not expect/want them to do so, to make women in science the norm.”
– Emma Mayhew, R4I Research Assistant (Ireland)
“The science field is a very male-dominated one and is full of power dynamics. It is crucial, specifically for young women, to take a critical stance against the status quo, and build on their own values, ideas and originality. Be you! Never lose the excitement, curiosity, and the joy of learning! And keep up the hard work and eagerness for the greater societal good, both for humans and non-humans!
– Dr. Gül Tuçaltan, R4I Project Manager (Turkey)
Find out more about GCA’s Research for Impact Team on GCA’s Adaptation Portal.
