On International Women’s Day, we take a stand on gender representation
According to the World Economic Forum, gender equity will not be achieved for another century. While progresses have been made in the last decades in the medical and research sector, long-standing biases and gender stereotypes steer girls and women away from science-related fields.
The global International Women’s Day (IWD) campaign on March 8 reminds us each year that we must persevere in our efforts to accelerate gender equality. This year’s campaign theme is #EmbraceEquity, which calls us to seek inclusion by valuing differences as a necessary and positive element of life.
In this sense, identifying, celebrating and raising the visibility of women’s achievements can help create equality by challenging gender biases and stereotypical narratives. To mark this year’s IWD and Girl’s and Women in Science Day on February 11, the ESICM has been releasing a series of videos highlighting some of the brilliant women who make its Intensive Care community. While we are aware that this is not an exhaustive representation, we hope that their example will be an inspiration to other ICU professionals, researchers and educators.
The resources are freely accessible on the ESICM website and YouTube channel.
This initiative is part of ESICM’s long-standing commitment to embracing equity. Thanks to its multidisciplinarity nature, diversity and inclusiveness are intrinsic to the Intensive Care speciality. ESICM actively promotes diversity and opportunities based on merit, irrespective of gender, age, and geographical background. In recent years, the Society has modified the process of electing its officials to ensure a more diverse representation. As a result, women hold 40% of all elected positions and 6 of the 14 leadership posts on the Executive Committee.
ESICM’s efforts in this respect continue beyond these initiatives. The Society’s Diversity and Inclusiveness Monitoring Group is working on other projects and activities that will be announced in due course.
