Pledge to make a difference, together.
The Belgian Women in Science (BeWiSe) initiative was started more than 20 years ago by a German woman who came to Belgium to conduct research at a public research institute. She encountered gender inequalities in her work environment and was amazed that there was no such association to tackle this challenge in an organized way. She brought her insights from her home country and convinced a few fellow scientists to establish BeWiSe. Since then, all past and present Board members have been convinced that the association should continue until the attainment of its mission. BeWiSe is a non-profit organization that supports the position of women in science, both in the public and private sectors, and aims to improve communication among women in the Belgian and European scientific community. We develop support that is relevant to the research community, students and citizen and adapt them to participants' feedbacks and changing contexts. Our target group is girls and women. As we believe that diversity is a source of excellence, and that we need allies from all genders to achieve our aims, we include boys and men in some activities, while ensuring that girls and women are always in a leading position. BeWiSe wants to achieve gender-equal participation at all levels of science and engineering in the public and private sectors. It is open to specifically women, butanybody who promotes equal participation of women in science is welcome to join BeWiSe. BeWiSe encourages: Equal opportunities for both women and men to reach the most senior level in sciences Appropriate actions to achieve equal participation of women in science at universities, research institutes and companies all over Belgium Laws and policies that encourage and sustain increased participation of underrepresented genders in science Programmes for change towards more democratic and participatory systems in science Measures that facilitate the reconciliation of men's and women's professional and family life Equal participation of women in decision-making bodies Citizen of any age, gender and background to be interested and engaged in science, value the scientific methods in generating knowledge and advancing society The organization is mainly driven by the Board, which consists of four positions: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. All members are working on a voluntary basis. The board is assisted by a pool of 3 to 6 regular volunteers: two responsible for the social media, and several former BeWiSe Board members. By choice, BeWiSe is operating only in Belgium: we tailor our reach to the Board and volunteers capacity, our focus is a communication strength, and we operate in a geographically distributed network of complementary initiatives. We operate in French, Dutch and English, the three major languages. In a spirit of diversity, we serve as a bridge between the formal Dutch-speaking and French-speaking education and research communities. The organization is strongly connected to European associations and initiatives, including through its active membership to the European Platform of Women Scientists, its participation to European calls and projects on science outreach, and its central Brussels location. Our immediate impact is focusedto the Belgian scientific community understood broadly: schools pupils and teachers, higher education students, professors and staff, private research centers, citizen and families who are temporarily or permanently living in Belgium. However, our indirect impact is broader: as BeWiSe members and target groups are from any nationality and origin, and are mobile throughout their careers, they carry and spread their own insights and BeWiSe's practices in many countries and organizations, including through informal networking practices outside of Europe, such as BeWiSe and the Society of Ethiopian Women in Science and Technology. Additionally, BeWiSe became not long ago a member of the eument-net network, where we reach out, learn, but also network with other organizations regarding mentoring and more specifically mentoring women. Our main activities are diverse, and vary with the target group: Any age (6 years and older): science outreach activities, with a consistent focus on female role models e.g. "exchange without taboo" sessions between pupils and researchers, European Researchers Night interactive workshops on societal challenges, pitching sessions by researchers to their peers, videos and podcasts on research projects and women scientists careers. Our current project has been awarded by the EU for 2 years. Our next edition will be held on Friday September 26th at the Planetarium in Brussels, and on Saturday September 27th at the Institute of Natural sciences. More information on www.wisenight.eu Teenagers: Girls Leading in Science (GirLS) team contest inviting Dutch- and French-speaking middle schools pupils to create, present and pitch their scientific project with team members they don't know, discover daily work at laboratories and stimulate them to enroll at a higher education institution in STEM. The contest is designed to grow the leadership of girls in science and transmit its (the) passion (for research), reflect on scientific methods, the value of collaboration and team diversity. The prize is a fully paid tuition fee for the first year at university within STEMfor each member of the winning team. More information on https://bewise.be/girls-leading-in-science/ Researchers mentoring program in both language communities for junior scientists working in Belgium, mainly to support young scientists who are in the important phases of completing their thesis or in the beginning of their post-doctoral research. The mentees also benefit from our networking and talks e.g. Lunch & Learn, inspirational talk. The program is complementary to intra-university programs. Higher education students, academics, university professionals, companies, diversity and inclusion officers and policy-makers: BeWiSe organizes a yearly Women in Science Conference exploring how to speed up the transition to gender equality in scientific careers and sharing good practices on including the sex and gender dimension in research (all disciplines). Several themes were explored in the past years: recruitment procedures, the Matilda effect, the EU gender equality plan. BeWiSe also organizes every other year an inspirational evening. During this captivating evening) in Brussels, inspirational women in STEM leadership will share experiences and advice from their leadership journeys. From leading in male-dominated environments to showing up as your authentic self, this unique event provides inspiration, energy, and tools for starting and mid-career women in sciences to continue their leadership journey with confidence. If we are awarded the 3M care giving, we would use the donation to Increase the impact of the GirLS by continuing to support students to choose STEM studies on the long term. We had received in the past a donation from Solvay to fund the contest and the prize (1st year university tuition fees for the winning team). However, this fund has ceased and we are currently in discussion with several organizations to find alternative sources of funding, but 3M donation could definitively support the continuation of the initiative. Attract more participants to our yearly Women in Science day Expanding the mentoring program by providing more training and meeting opportunities to both mentors and mentees. Providing more science outreach material in a broad range of disciplines by developing and spreading short video clips, increasing their usage by school teachers and pupils, as well as continue outreach events like WiseNight. Raising awareness of citizen sensitive to arts by organizing pictures exhibitions and talks at different locations (no dependency on uncertain European funding), for example by reusing the 40 portraits and podcasts of women scientists working in Belgium, developed as part of the WiseNight EU project. Discussions are ongoing with several universities to organize such exhibition in other locations after the 2025 edition of WiseNight where 2 series of portraits will be displayed both in the Planetarium and in the Institute of Natural Sciences. Providing space to the Board and key volunteers to discuss and consolidate a long term strategy, including considering synergies and structured collaboration with like-minded organizations. Reach out to other organizations promoting women (at regional level, or industry based) to enlarge our reach and reinforce the impact of our activities.