Empowerment of Women in Geoscience toward the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality)

Abstract

[EN]Gender equality is widely recognized as a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development, social well-being, and inclusive growth. Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations, SDG 5 explicitly underscores gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls as essential enabling conditions for achieving the broader 2030 Agenda. Despite this global commitment, gender disparities continue to persist as deep-rooted structural challenges across many scientific disciplines, including geoscience. Geoscience plays a pivotal role in addressing some of the most pressing contemporary challenges, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable resource management, disaster risk reduction, and environmental protection. However, the historical contributions of women to geoscience, as well as their current and potential future roles, have frequently been undervalued, overlooked, or insufficiently documented. Although recent decades have witnessed a notable increase in the number of women entering geoscience and other STEM fields at both undergraduate and doctoral levels, this growth has not translated proportionally into representation in senior professional positions. Empirical evidence consistently points to a pronounced “leaky pipeline,” in which women remain significantly underrepresented in permanent academic appointments, leadership roles, and decision-making bodies within the geoscience community.