Gender equality benefits everyone. However, according to the World Economic Forum, closing the gender gap to achieve full gender parity is currently forecasted to occur only by 2158, which is five generations from now1. Though a blessing for any hypothetical great-great-great-granddaughters, the question is whether we could speed things up. In 2024, the United Nations proposed ten gender equality accelerators highlighting ways to overcome critical challenges2. Inspired by this, we reflect on how the physics community can contribute.

Credit: Bettmann / Contributor/Bettmann/getty

As we contemplate the year 2158 and the distance still to go, it is worth mentioning that what we now consider standard stepping stones for pursuing a career in physics — attending lectures, receiving a degree, using lab equipment — were not always available to women.

For example, Hertha Ayrton was a mathematician, electrical engineer and inventor, whose name is not well known but deserves recognition, particularly for her work on electrical arcs, which contributed to the development of safer electrical streetlights. Ayrton was born in 1854, and her irrepressible pursuit of scientific advancement was met with many barriers. She studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge, even though at the time it did not offer degrees to women. She then became the first woman member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Although its charter did not allow her to become a member (because she was married), she nonetheless became the first woman to receive a prize from the Royal Society.

Similarly, despite her many contributions to physics, Chien-Shiung Wu struggled to obtain recognition for her work, for example on the Manhattan Project and disproving the law of conservation of parity under the weak interaction. Wu was born in China in 1912, and she emigrated to the USA in 1936 to study nuclear physics, amid growing anti-Asian sentiment. Even so, she boldly ventured into unchartered territory, becoming the first woman instructor at the physics department at Princeton and the first woman to serve as president of the American Physical Society.

Although the field has come a long way since the times of these and many other trailblazing women, we are still far from gender parity at undergraduate, PhD or faculty level. Many national and international organizations are actively working towards changing the status quo, such as the Institute of Physics in the UK or the working group on “Women in Physics” of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. In addition to these schemes, there are other ways in which the physics community can accelerate change, particularly in the realms of recruitment, retention and leadership of women.

There is still a disproportionately low number of girls continuing physics in higher education. To address this issue, we need to challenge the perception that physics is for boys because girls find mathematics hard. Although teachers, people working in higher education and outreach programmes play a particularly important role in dispelling such stereotypes from an early age, each of us can contribute in our daily lives.

However, a mere increase in recruitment is not enough. Many women drop out of physics at various career stages and for multifaceted reasons, often tied to inclusion. Fostering more inclusive working environments is key — for example, by offering more flexible working hours to accommodate caring duties, office spaces with flexible temperature control, and child friendly spaces.

Even when women continue their career in physics, leadership positions in departments and institutions are still dominated by men. Women might not even apply for such positions because of care responsibilities, an absence of woman role models in similar positions, or not feeling welcome in a ‘men’s club’. Mentorship schemes and childcare services can help to mitigate these issues.

The year 2158 might seem distant, but each of us in small ways can bring that goalpost closer. Speaking up against misogyny, calling out stereotypes, and looking for the gaps in our institutions are just some examples of what we can do to accelerate change — because gender parity benefits all.