500 Women Scientists is a non-profit group dedicated to making science open, inclusive, and accessible. To achieve this mission, they work to increase scientific literacy through public engagement, advocate for science and equity, and provide self-identifying women with the tools and support they need to reach their full potential. The organization began with an open letter in November 2016 and was officially recognized as a 501(c)3 in May 2018.

History

500 Women Scientists launched with an open letter signed by 500 women scientists after the United States 2016 presidential election. The letter pledged to speak out not only against policies that go against scientific evidence, but also against inequality, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of discrimination against marginalized communities. Within two months, the pledge received over fifteen thousand signatures from women and allies in 109 countries. In concert with the 2017

Women's March Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 ma ...

, women scientists and supporters who signed the pledge organized themselves into groups to march together. The local marches became the basis for forming local chapters, or "Pods", where local women scientists meet regularly. Pods function both as a support system and as a vehicle to focus on and organize around issues that resonate in their own communities, in line with 500 Women Scientists core mission and values.

Programs and initiatives

Request a Woman Scientist

To increase representation of women on conference panels and in high-profile science journalism stories, 500 Women Scientists launched a Request a Woman Scientist database for self-identifying women with expertise in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) fields. The database currently contains over 6,000 women in 104 countries.

Sci Mom Journey

500 Women Scientists launched the Sci Mom Journey campaign to share the journeys of parents in science, specifically mothers, who face institutional challenges when it comes to issues such as accessible lactation rooms and parental leave.

Fellowship for the Future

In 2019, 500 Women Scientists launched the Fellowship for the Future program to recognize and support

women of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

who are leading initiatives in the STEM community that work towards promoting equity, inclusiveness, and accessibility in STEM in line with the organization's mission.

Public engagement

500 Women Scientists often uses science writing as a means of communicating their expertise and values to the public at large, with pieces featured in outlets like ''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

'', ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

'', and ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

''. The global leadership team has authored a number of opinion pieces on topics as varied as calling for evidence-based policy-making at the Environmental Protection Agency, recommending policy reforms to combat sexual harassment in academia, and encouraging journal editors to think carefully about fostering equity and inclusion in their editorial pages. Local Pods have also written about issues facing their own communities, ranging from the effect of President Trump's border wall on California wildlife to the need to stop burning coal in the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

References

External links

*{{official, https://500womenscientists.org/ 501(c)(3) organizations Organizations established in 2016 Women in science and technology Science advocacy organizations Organizations for women in science and technology