Minister of Science Danon: "Intends to lead a legislative process that will provide incentives to higher education institutions that will lead to a change in the percentage of women in their institutions"
The Ministry of Science will designate the year 2015 as the Year of Women Pioneers in Science and Technology and will launch today, July 14, 2015, a large awareness campaign centered on women scientists who are role models. The campaign is part of the ministry's broad plan to address the issue.
The decision on an extensive awareness campaign comes against the background of a report by the Ministry of Science and Education published this week, from which it appears that women are currently a minority in the senior academic staff in Israel: their rate is approximately 29% in universities, and 39% in budgeted colleges. The situation is particularly serious in the mathematics and computer science departments where they make up only 11% and 13% in the physical natural sciences. The future also does not look promising at the moment - the proportion of female students in the subjects of engineering, mathematics, statistics and computer science currently stands at only 25% to 31% of the students.
The launch of the program and campaign will be announced today by Minister of Science Danny Danon at a celebratory event with the participation of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev President Prof. Rivka Karmi, the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Science Prof. Nurit Yeremia, the CEO of Intel Israel Maxine Fassberg and the founder of Alljobs Revital Handler.
The campaign selected young women scientists who are engaged in interesting research from angles less known to the public such as: Dr. Hagar Landsman, who as part of her research investigates the composition of dark matter using a unique telescope at the South Pole, where she also stayed for a period; Dr. Roni Kamai from the Department of Civil Engineering at Ben-Gurion University whose research deals with the preparedness of buildings for earthquakes; Dr. Karina Yaniv from the Weizmann Institute of Science whose research on zebra fish revealed for the first time the development of the lymphatic system in the fetus; and Dr. Bat Chen Lubin from the Samaria Regional Research Center whose research is testing the DNA of vines and trying to find the biblical vine.
In addition, a rhythmic music video will be released this month on the children's channels, centered on a group of girls planning a show using tools from the world of science in order to appeal to this target audience at eye level.
According to Minister of Science Danny Danon, "the data presented recently in the report also proved that the Israeli academy is in a difficult situation of lacking women. In light of the situation, I intend to lead a legislative process that will provide incentives to higher education institutions that will lead to a change in the percentage of women in their institutions. Along with this, the ministry intends to invest many resources in promoting women to science professions and invest about NIS 30 million in programs for girls, funding research on the subject, establishing knowledge centers, awarding scholarships and holding conferences. We will be able to reap the fruits of our efforts in a few years."
Intel Israel CEO Maxine Fassberg will say at the event: "In order to increase the representation of women and other underrepresented groups in the fields of science and technology, a culture that encourages difference and diversity must be created. We at Intel believe that diversity in employment is the engine for innovation and creativity. Not through affirmative action, but through hard work of persistence and assimilation of Shivin values in the organization, among other things through personal example. That is why I am so proud that 30% of Intel Israel's senior management and 40% of our factory management in Kiryat Gat are women. We need to strengthen the awareness of the various factors plus the value that the inclusion of women brings. Diversity, variation and equal representation benefit society as a whole, therefore equal representation of women in science and technology is not a goal, but a means to improve society."
