Reconstructing Philosophies of Feminist Science and Science Policy

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, 11 February, UNESCO collaborated with the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) (Bengaluru), to organise a panel discussion on ‘Feminist Perspectives on Science and Science Policy”. The deliberations explored the need for dialogue between Feminist Science and Science Policy in the Indian context. 

Benno Boer, Programme Specialist for Natural Sciences, UNESCO New Delhi and Dr. Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee, Senior Fellow, CPR, IIT Delhi initiated the discussions. The panellists touched upon multiple perspectives from sociology, the transgender community in science and a feminist critique of the nature and state of technology. 

Owing to the technology-led economic growth, various institutional and cultural changes have led to a gender gap in science-related careers and leadership positions. Prof. Gita Chadha from the University of Mumbai, highlighted how science can and should be utilised as a “unit of analysis to explain low participation of women in science”. 

During the discussion, Prof. Asha Achuthan from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai initiated a dialogue on developing protocols and procedures to build a consensus, to validate “vocabulary, terminology, and technique” in the context of trans people. She also focused on gender affirmative surgeries while presenting findings from case studies. She said, “Although these procedures are seen as linked to gender, they are spoken of, as failing the real gender test in terms of sexual functions”.

Her words strongly resonated with Prof. Gita’s pertinent point of the need of a gender-sensitive science curricula. The discussion was also graced by panellist, Prof. Banu Subramaniam who connected from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She presented a fictional manifesto where she mentioned how “the institutions of science have not lived up to the promise of its possibilities". 

Prof. Banu also shed light on how colonialism, biases and non-inclusive practices have adversely affected biological sciences. 

UNESCO acknowledges that Science and gender equality are critical for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Hence, the immediate need of the hour remains how one can reinvigorate and develop gender-sensitive and sustainable science, in order to curtail existing biases and inequalities.

For further information, please contact:
Benno Boer (b.boer@unesco.org) or Nimita Pandey (n.pandey@unesco.org)

For more details, click here.