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EMPOWERING WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
by KAUST
KAUST holds third annual WISE workshop to support women in STEM
KAUST held the third annual Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) workshop on the university’s campus across three days in February 2023. Female scientists and engineers from Saudi Arabia and representatives from international institutions attended the event, which aims to empower women working in STEM fields. In addition to talks from women in STEM, the event featured panels, outings and networking opportunities.
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Women have acted as trailblazers in STEM throughout history, but often lack the recognition given to their male counterparts.
The proportion of girls studying STEM subjects in school in most countries is far lower than that of boys. As governments around the world work toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of quality education and gender equality, KAUST is at the forefront of global efforts to encourage more girls and women to participate in STEM subjects.
KAUST is supporting women’s participation in STEM through events like WISE, in line with Saudi Arabia’s goal of empowering women, raising their level of economic participation, and building on their capacity and knowledge.
DEANNA LACOSTE Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Attendees represented a wide range of backgrounds, including academia, industry and government, and fields such as bioengineering, chemistry, publishing, health administration, computer science and science policy. There was representation across different ethnicities and cultures from the Kingdom and the Middle East, as well as other parts of the world. This encouraged the sharing of a variety of insights from women working in STEM in different cultural contexts.
The conference is the flagship event of WISE, which has a multi-pronged outreach agenda aimed at women in STEM. Lectures, panel discussions, networking opportunities, internships and access to labs and industry mentors are among the activities and resources WISE offers throughout the year. Approximately 1,635 people tuned in to the WISE workshop online, and 140 in-person participants from outside the university joined the attendees from the KAUST community.
