Featured women doing the equals pose with their arms
RMetS - General

#EachforEqual - International Women’s Day 2020

8 March 2020

Weather doesn't discriminate and neither do we. International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th every year, with a mission to help forge a gender-equal world and celebrate women's achievements and accomplishments. In honour of this day we asked a few of the amazing women we work with questions such as: what do you believe to be the benefit of women working in science? why do you personally feel #EachforEqual is important? and which woman has inspired you in your life and why? We will be sharing their answers on our social media channels throughout the day.

This also gives us a great opportunity to re-share our “Women in Weather” podcast from this day a couple of years ago. The podcast discusses the achievements that have been made so far, but also the obstacles that still remain for women working in the scientific sector.  

Seven meteorologists, climate scientists, education and outreach practitioners and managers spoke to us about their career paths and the issues they may have faced as women in the workplace, such as short-term contracts in academia, job-shares, and maternity leave. They also looked at how we can encourage more women to ask questions at events, and how we can actively inspire more young girls to fully participate in, and choose science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professions.  

Our seven speakers and times they feature on the podcast are:

  • Professor Ellie Highwood, Professor of Climate Physics, University of Reading (1:28)

  • Professor Liz Bentley, Chief Executive, Royal Meteorological Society (9:20)

  • Jennie Campbell, Consultant & Former CEO at MeteoGroup (16:08)

  • Dr Cat Muller, Head of Public Engagement, Royal Meteorological Society (20:42)

  • Dr Sylvia Knight, Head of Education, Royal Meteorological Society (24:03)

  • Felicity Liggins, Outreach Manager, Met Office (29:29) 

  • Dr Lindsay Bennett, Instrument Scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) (34:09)