The 11th of February has been declared by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The purpose of the day is to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls and to further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
At present, less than 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are women. According to UNESCO data (2014 - 2016), only around 30 per cent of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. The British Society of Echocardiography welcomes the opportunity to highlight the contribution of the many female scientists in the echo community. Encouraging young women to ask questions is a key facet of our approach to inspiring greater involvement in STEM.
As part of our work to encourage young women into science and specifically, cardiac science, we joined Megan, 14 and Kelly Victor, Clinical Scientist Lead at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust for a chat over Zoom.