Initiative to Reduce Gender Disparity in STEM in Nepal

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According to a University Grant Commission Nepal (UGC) (2019/2020) report, overall female students' enrollment up to the bachelor level is almost equal to that of male students. But there is a vast gender gap in higher education programs, such as Master's and Ph.D. programs, particularly in the field of Science & Technology and Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The trend of the gender gap is not only common in classrooms but also in academia and research institutes: Only 7.8% of women researchers are working in the field of STEM (UNESCO, 2020). This wide gender gap could be due to the lack of female-friendly national policies, gender stereotypes, various social norms, fewer female role models in the STEM field, and a lack of networking. At present, the government of Nepal is implementing policies of reservations of specific opportunities of higher education and job for female candidates, which are insufficient and not a permanent solution to decrease the gender gap. Hence, females working in STEM need various capacities-building support programs to increase their competencies.

The primary mission of the initiative , supported by the , is to reduce the gender disparity in STEM and support for capacity building of female researchers through networking-based programs. This should encourage, motivate and inspire more girls/women in the STEM field in Nepal.

Specific missions of the initiative are:

Construction of a database of female researchers working in various STEM fields,
Organizing several academic and professional capacity-building trainings in all seven provinces of Nepal
Sharing information on national and international research grants and career development opportunities on a real-time basis among the networking members
Providing conference grants/small research funds to early carrier female researchers/students

Join this Virtual Coffee Break to learn more about Babita Paudel's initiative and to discuss with her and others how more gender equality can be achieved in STEM and academia in general!

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Babita Paudel

Dr. is a founder/research director and Head at the Center for Natural and Applied Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal. Her research area is the Natural Product Chemistry of medicinal plants and microorganisms. She has published dozens of research papers and patents. She completed her Ph.D. in 2009 from Soonchunhyang University, South Korea. She received a , Germany to conduct her research at Gottingen University, Germany in 2010. She worked at Korea Polar Research Institute, South Korea for two years as a post-doctoral researcher from 2011-2013. Since 2014, she is in Nepal conducting research activities in her research fields. In 2019, she got an opportunity to work at Tuebingen University, Germany in the course of a Humboldt renewed research stay.

She has received various international grants from the International Foundation for Science (IFS), Sweden; the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), to conduct research projects in her home country. She is also involved in projects funded by University Grant Commissions (UGC), Nepal, and Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Along with her research activities, she is actively involved in the capacity building of female researchers in the STEM field in Nepal. In 2022, she received the prestigious from the on the project Capacity Building of female researchers of the STEM Field through Networking to reduce the gender gap in Nepal. Similarly, she has received various national awards. In 2015 she received Nepal Bidhya Bhusan ‘KA’ Award from the Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal. In 2016 she received the Emerging Talent Award from Shree Lunkaran Das Ganga Devi Chaudhary Academy for Arts & Literature. In 2022, she received the “Women in Science and Technology” award from the Nepal Academy of Science & Technology.

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Learn about the work of Babita Paudel

There are only a few women in Nepal who are working in STEM research. Biologist Dr Babita Paudel has launched a network initiative to change that.

Initiative to Reduce Gender Disparity in STEM in Nepal

VIRTUAL COFFEE BREAK (recording)

Language: English

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