In the field of harm reduction, there are a lot of women who stand for the smokers’ right to choose safer alternatives to quit smoking. Some of them are leading experts in fields such as research, communication and law.
Despite the gender equality is one of the goals of the UN SDGs, women and girls are excluded from a full participation in science.According to English studies, the gender gap between male and female regarding the attitude towards scientific subjects at school occurs around the age of 6: an interesting statistics, if we consider that at that age kids are usually studying the basics of each subject.Although the data confirm a decrease in the trend, female researchers must face the differences in treatment in the workplace, where they deal with underpaid contracts and the difficulty in reconciling home, family and work.
Unfortunately, even today, stereotypes and prejudices make women’ careers an obstacle. Only 16.5% of young women between the ages of 25 and 34 graduate from a scientific-technological faculty, compared with a percentage that is more than double for males (37%). Women that can have a career inside labs or research centers are equal to 30%.However, in the field of harm reduction, women who are examples of excellence are growing in number, rewarded for their skills in analysis and precision.Smokers usually deal with a lot of misinformation surrounding the concept of tobacco harm reduction and many researchers dedicate their life to share data that prove the potential benefit of switching from combustible cigarette to low risk products.Thanks to the opportunity of managing international research projects, these renewed experts, some of them part of the CoEHAR team, gained the chance to be listened during international conferences all around the World.
COEHAR – 2022-02-15
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