After the announcement of Noble prizes, the world scientific community is busy debating on the need for change despite being excited by the wider recognition of groundbreaking researches. The reason being, since the inception of awards only 17 women has been awarded under science categories and no black science laureates. So just imagine the status of combination of the two.
Yes, I do agree, science in India has diversity problem with women. Also it has, working long hours, breaking stereotypes, societal bias, getting married and having children as added problems. Often we have to play a tug-of-war with family commitments and work. In a country like India, right from childhood family (parents/husband) plays a vital role in deciding the career of a woman. She is brought up in a way that while taking a decision in career the consent of her husband, children and so on is much more important than consent of oneself. Suppose she has a baby and the family cannot afford for baby care, it is the woman who has to give up her career. Somehow if we manage to pursue our passion for science, the support from scientific community is awful. I have personally experienced from Professors in universities say “Basically we don’t prefer female candidates for research”. The best part is that, the number female professors outrage the number of male professors in this context. The list goes on like sexual harassment, standard of curriculum, political setup etc…
Mars Mission scientists cheer in Bangalore. India is the first country in the world to successfully enter the Mars orbit in the first attempt. (reported in NDTV)
Indian staff from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) celebrate after the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (MoM) successfully entered the Mars orbit at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore on September 24, 2014. (reported in THE SUNDAY TIMES)
Now just stop thinking of these negative traits and take a look at the picture, where Indian women are rejoicing the success of MOM at ISRO. That’s a sign showing our way to deserve a prize much better than noble prize for all the women scientists out there, who are already on road with bumps and humps heading for a scientific endeavour. “Our passion, commitment and determination will carry us to our destination”.
Now let’s glance the available support/grants.