Although Latvia has an ideal proportion of women and men working in science, only 0.4% of the population has a PhD. To improve the situation, popularising science is extremely important.
Labs of Latvia presents a series of articles on women in science. The first articles in this series explored the statistics on how many women work in science in Latvia and how the high figures could be explained; the figures on how many people in Latvia have a PhD; and how many female inventors there are in Latvia. Meanwhile, the final article in this series will explore the opinions of experts on how large of a role is played in these situations by popularising science.
“Although there have been no specific support measures to promote women in science, a more or less balanced situation has developed on its own regarding gender representation in science. For one reason or another, this may not be easy to achieve for some countries, and Latvia’s principles of equality and their implementation in practice seem worthy of being held up as an example,” says Lauma Muižniece, director of the Latvian Science Council.
Ella Pētermane, PR specialist at the Development and International Cooperation Department of the Latvian Patent Office, believes that it is important to talk publicly about scientific achievements, special competitions, and prizes for female scientists, such as the L’Oréal awards for Women in Science.
The Latvian Patent Office is also preparing a series of videos and articles on achievements by Latvian female scientists and inventors, in order to introduce them to a wider audience and, potentially, motivate young female scientists and inventors.
