Optica Celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Marcia Lesky, Sr. Director Diversity, Inclusion & Volunteer Cultivation, Optica
The United Nations General Assembly designated February 11 the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, to promote full and equal access and participation for women and girls in science. Aligning with our core value of inclusivity and our commitment to excellence and diversity, Optica is supporting this goal in the amazing world of optics.
Optica by the Numbers
Reflecting on our own statistics, we are seeing increases in the engagement, visibility and prominence of women. For example:
- Overall membership is currently 16% women, looking to our future the student member population jumps to 27% women.
- In 2021, women represented 27% of our invited speakers and 25% of our editors – a marked improvement from 2016 of 13% and 11%, respectfully.
- In the spirit of leading by example, the 2022 board of directors is 62% women.
We have further to go as we strive to promote full and equal access. We are offering a number of programs to attract and retain more women.
Funding
Investing in women can help reduce barriers to engagement and support, retain and recognize women to Optica. Some highlights include:
- The Optica Women Scholars program recently launched by the Optica Foundation. This program will award 20 undergraduate and Masters optics and photonics students a US$10,000 scholarship and mentoring opportunities annually for the next ten years.
- The Corning Optical Communications Travel Grant and Optical Communications Scholarship provide funding and recognition to outstanding young women in the field. But that’s not all, he Optica Foundation offers a number of other scholarships, grants and prizes that help support and recognize students and young professionals.
- For those attending an Optica meeting who need help covering expenses due to family responsibilities, we offer Family Care Grants – up to US$400 per family, per calendar year for in-person, up to US$200 for virtual participation.
Activities
We host programs and activities throughout the year designed to raise the visibility of women and increase including:
- Special networking events, trainings and talks designed to connect and inspire women in optics are held at Optica meetings and as virtual programs.
- The Diversity & Inclusion Advocacy Recognition acknowledges an individual and a company, university, or organization working to foster greater appreciation, advancement and celebration of diversity and inclusion in the optics and photonics community.
- Wikipedia is the fifth most visited site globally but has poor representation for women and other underrepresented communities. For example, only 16% of articles on scientists are about women. Our DiversiWiki program trains new Wikipedia editors to help create or strengthen existing pages. The 6 trainings we have hosted have resulted in over 100 new editors who created 25 new articles, edited 241 articles, added 624 references and generated 1 million+ views of these pages to date.
Call to Action
To succeed in any of these efforts, we need your engagement. Help ensure the optics community is one where all are welcome, valued and recognized.
- Nominate a woman for an award or as an Optica senior member, fellow or honorary member.
- Become a reviewer or encourage women you know to volunteer for Optica Publishing Group. You can find out more at the reviewer resource page and also learn what it takes to become an Editor.
- Attend, host or propose a topic for an event or activity helping educate and inspire women in optics.
- Inspire the next generation of women! Visit the education outreach page for ideas or download the new Women in STEM challenge game created by the student chapters at the Institute of Optics of the Spanish National Research Council and University of Surrey.
- Finally, be engaged in your everyday life. Mentor a young woman in your lab or ensure that a women in your company are recognized and offered opportunities to grow as corporate leaders.
