Speaker
Isabel Torres
Co-founder & CEO
Mothers in Science
Isabel Torres is co-founder and CEO of Mothers in Science, the leading global nonprofit organization advocating for mothers in STEMM and creating evidence-based solutions to promote workplace equity and inclusion of caregivers. After completing a PhD degree in genetics at the University of Cambridge and a postdoc at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the UK, Isabel moved to France where she is currently a science editor and consultant. Among other projects, she founded Pretty Smart Science, a science communication platform that combines science and art to promote scientific literacy and increase the visibility of women in science. Isabel is passionate about science communication and about promoting women in STEMM and advocating for gender equality. She is a mother of four children.
Description
More women than ever before are pursuing careers in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine), yet they remain vastly underrepresented in this sector, particularly in leadership positions. Research shows that new mothers are nearly three times more likely to leave their STEMM careers than new fathers or their childless peers, and COVID-19 has magnified these longstanding inequities. Dr Isabel Torres will discuss the invisible systemic barriers that push mothers in STEMM away from their career track and explain why motherhood should be at the center of discussions and interventions to close the gender gap in STEMM. She will show unpublished data from a pre-pandemic global survey conducted by Mothers in Science to study the impact of parenthood on career progression in STEMM and discuss actionable strategies to empower mothers and increase retention of women in STEMM careers.
Learning Objectives
- Awareness of the maternal wall and of the systemic societal and structural barriers facing mothers in STEMM
- How systemic barriers related to motherhood affect career advancement in STEMM fields
- Actionable strategies for institutions and individuals to tackle the STEMM wall and increase retention of women, especially caregivers, in STEMM careers
Webinar Recording & PDH Certificate
Included with your webinar registration is access to a recording of the program and a fillable certificate to self-report your Professional Development Hour (PDH)/Continuing Education Credit (CEU). Your certificate will be available to download and a link to the recording of this webinar will be sent within a week of the live program from [email protected]. The recording is exclusively for you, the registrant of the webinar. They are not to be shared or forwarded.