In some regions, such as the UK, women make up about 25-30% of physicists. While some countries such as Turkey have higher percentages, others such as Spain have had historically lower representation. From data from the Institute of Physics Group membership in the UK, it appears that certain fields such as environmental physics and molecular physics have higher female representation, while others such as low temperature physics and space physics had lower representation. Astronomy also has a higher percentage of women. It is a challenge to accurately estimate the numbers of physicists globally, in part due to physicists often moving into industry and not being identified as physicists. However a 25% current global average looks a reasonable estimate.
Gender Balance in IUPAP Leadership
Compared to this 25%, women are overrepresented on the Executive Council due to intentional efforts to achieve gender balance. To reach this point has taken some 25 years. During that time the Women in Physics Working Group has continued to advise the Executive Council on issues around the low numbers of women physicists both globally and within IUPAP itself and suggest means of improvement through good practice. As a result the Executive Council has better gender representation and has greater awareness of the issues. A past chair of the Women in Physics Working Group, is currently President of IUPAP.
The International Conference on Women in Physics
There is no global Physics congress, though IUPAP is planning a general conference focused on Physics for Regenerative Development at the occasion of their next General Assembly. The International Conference on Women in Physics, taking place every 3 years and started about 23 years ago, typically has around 200-300 attendees from 50-60 different countries, with country teams working together to gather and present statistics. The last two were online only, in response to the difficulties of travelling post pandemic. Plans for the next conference on women in physics are to have it in-person. The participation of developing countries is encouraged and promoted. The funding for travel grants comes from a mix of sources, including IUPAP, company sponsors and local sponsors such as universities and the host region’s national physical society.
Evolution of Diversity Leadership Role
The Working Group was initially set up to focus on surveying global women’s participation in physics and has since evolved to share and promote best practices within IUPAP and its members. IUPAP had a Vice President Gender Champion from 2011, until this role evolved into a broader Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion in 2024.
There are challenges in broadening the focus from women in physics to gender and diversity, with potential pushback from some countries.
It remains needed to retain the identity and work of the existing Women in Physics Working Group, which has gained a good reputation amongst women in physics globally, while negotiating the broader approach.
Remaining challenges
With only 10 women awarded prizes, out of 43 in the recent period, there is clearly a need to better track gender representation on shortlists in the process of award nominations.
There is currently no formal mechanism within IUPAP for handling internal complaints of harassment, but all the IUPAP sponsored meetings are required to have a reporting mechanism in place with a named advisor.
Key takeaways for other institutions
- Collect data on the gender gap to know where efforts have to be concentrated and also as a tool for raising awareness.
- Promote conferences on women in science issues and ensure all the sponsored meetings promote gender equity
- Monitor the award process to increase women nominees and awardees, keeping in mind that the low proportion of awards for women reflects deep societal challenges.