Space Girls Space Women
Scientists, engineers, students, professors and astronauts: there are women passionate about space working in all areas of space science and technology. Yet in many cases, they are still in the minority.
ESA Communications has teamed up with the international press agency Sipa Press to launch Space Girls Space Women, an exhibition designed to showcase girls dreaming about space and women working in space, to share their inspiring stories with the world.
“Attracting women to careers in science and technology is an important objective for us”, states Bettina Boehm, Head of the ESA Human Resources Department. “By demonstrating in an exhibition how women can shape their working environment in space research and technology, ESA helps to inspire future generations.”
Inspiring young people
“More than 10 years ago, ESA introduced its Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy”, explains Boehm, “and we are working hard to combat underrepresentation in high visibility roles in scientific and technical domains, where gender imbalance is still an issue. We hope that the young women presented in this exhibition will serve as a great inspiration to young girls around Europe, encouraging them to follow in their footsteps”, she continues. Fernando Doblas, Head of the ESA Communication Department, adds: “The testimonies of these women are so true, so strong, that they can certainly act as role models for many girls who think, or are told, that science and technology is just a matter of boys. Space, due to its inspirational nature, has a major role to play in this essential domain.”
Comprising two exhibitions, a website and an app, Space Girls Space Women runs until November at the Musée des Arts et Métiers and the Grilles du Jardin de l’Observatoire. After Paris, it will travel around Europe, Canada and the USA.
The Space Girls Space Women app allows users to create their own Space Girls profile, and test their knowledge of space. Visitors to the website and users of the app will come across engaging video testimonies from a wide range of women and girls studying and working in space science and technology. It's worth noting that, out of the 19 ‘Space Women’ whose video testimonies are shown in the app and on the website, 6 are from ESA.
Find out more
Space Girls Space Women has been made possible thanks to the commitment of founding partner ESA Communications, in cooperation with CNES, the NEREUS network, La Cité de l’espace, and the GSA. Universcience has financed the multimedia application thanks to an ESTIM grant.
For more information on the Space Girls Space Women initiative see the links on your right.
