Elisa Palazzi: «A global alliance to encourage girls towards STEM»
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«Loving science means knowing how to observe the world with one’s own gaze which is “unique”, being curious and always asking questions, even before finding the answers. Science moves continuously in a very large space, where there is room for everyone, with their own diversities and inclinations. Girls and boys, without distinction.” Elisa Palazzi, 44, climatologist and professor of climate physics at the University of Turin, author and popularizer, is one of the protagonist voices of the Radio3Scienza special on Friday 20 January 2023.
STEM intrigues 54% of female students
A direct intended to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the program and dedicated to one of its creators, the unforgettable Rossella Panarese: together with Palazzi (from 3 to 4.45 pm, broadcast from Room A in Via Asiago), Ilaria Capua, virologist of the University of Florida, Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA astronaut, Amalia Ercoli Finzi, engineer from the Milan Polytechnic and Licia Troisi, astrophysicist and fantasy writer, will talk about their experiences and discuss Stem, gender issues and the future with students. «Many times they ask me whether girls like science or not – explains Palazzi – The question in itself seems to me to be the result of ancient legacies, but the answer comes directly from the data: from a research carried out by Ipsos and disseminated in 2022 on the occasion of the International Day for Women and Girls in Science, which is celebrated on 11 February. According to this study, STEM subjects intrigue 54% of female students, but the tendency remains for girls to consider technical-scientific subjects “not suitable” for them, indicating that many gender prejudices and stereotypes still have a strong influence. And in fact Miur sources for the 2020/21 academic year indicate that out of 100 Italian female students enrolled in university, only 21 have chosen Stem degree courses. Girls are therefore certainly intrigued by science but do not necessarily choose that path”.
All the weight of cultural bias
Cultural bias, yes. But not only. The attitude – or rather, the non-habit – of thinking of science and technology not as something “even for females” still remains too deeply rooted in parents. And often only the teachers themselves – even unknowingly – direct the girls towards other paths. «Whether it’s a girl or a boy, if there is passion, if science has moved something in them, then there are no particular differences in the approach. The problem can come after they get close to it: for decades our society has led us to believe that being a scientist was a man’s thing and that girls should deal with different subjects. And even if this type of thinking is present today in a less striking way than in the past – while remaining in a more subtle, hidden form and therefore often more subtle and more difficult to eliminate – the idea of not being up to it can come on a girl’s mind and become heavy, turning into lack of self-confidence, and give up.”
«All levels must be involved: from school to family»
School, family, popularizers, museums and communication, as well as meeting and discussion with the protagonists of the research: to finally eradicate stale positions and now out of time, joint work is really needed, with a new, contemporary and systemic approach capable to propose science in all its inclusiveness. «I think all levels must be involved – adds Palazzi – I’m sure that parents play an important role through their ideologies or their expectations, in encouraging or discouraging their daughters’ path in STEM disciplines. Parents may also have a tendency to educate their children differently, whether girls or boys, emphasizing stereotypes. Even the school must play an important role in preventing the gender gap from becoming fossilized right from the first cycles of education. The world of mass media can make a contribution to overcoming stereotypes by involving a greater number of female experts. Finally, the academic and scientific world can and must do a lot, both at the level of individual choices, for example by starting to express their dissent in front of particular occasions that do not guarantee gender equality, such as refusing to go to conferences/panels where the majority of speakers both men – in some cases it is striking, and at a higher level, for example in the representativeness in the evaluation commissions for high offices”.
The fundamental role of testimony
And then the testimony, dissemination, confrontation with young people: that third mission that leads men and women of science to get involved to make knowledge accessible to all. «Mine – concludes Palazzi – is a simple story, the story of a person who does a job that she likes and is passionate about and who perhaps manages to convey that passion, and in this sense I can be an inspiration. I’m not one of those types of people who knew right away, from an early age, what they wanted to be when they grew up. I understood it gradually, step by step, over time, while doing things. I left with an interest born in high school in Physics, a subject in which I did well, which I liked to study and understand. But I also know that the decision to continue on that path at university was thanks to my physics teacher, who was able to tell me the right word at the right time. That professor was a master, one of the classic important encounters in life, as others followed, for me. I didn’t have real models to follow, I didn’t look for them: I would rather say that I have always let myself be inspired by the scientists I have met and whom I liked for their way of tackling problems, of working, of thinking and above all knowing how to work as a team. This job has turned into a rich life experience that gives me something every day, transforms me and allows me to nourish myself, even in the most intense and complicated moments, as a woman and as a scientist».
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