India and the United Kingdom yesterday launched the Women in Space Leadership Programme (WiSLP), one of the major initiatives planned for creating a gender-inclusive environment within the space sciences sector. Launched with support from India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) in association with the British Council, this program falls under the overall UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).
This strategic leadership framework would enable institutions to adopt space sciences as a non-discriminatory space. Further to elaborate on the initiative, Dr Vandana Singh from the WISE-KIRAN division of DST said, “This institutionally established sound leadership will empower women to contribute meaningfully in scientific research and innovation.” That would engender enablement environments for women through a career in space science-a fundamentally important requirement today.
This program is tailored for 250 early career researchers, enabling them to acquire the skills needed to take on leadership positions and tackle the challenges created by gender biases. In exchange, WiSLP encompasses essential aspects such as establishing sustainable mentoring networks, scientific innovation, and facilitating gender perspectives in the two core sectors: astrophysics and telecommunications.
Directing to the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Annapurni Subramaniam seeks women’s participation in a sector like space science that currently enjoys an interdisciplinary domain based on engineering and social sciences among other things. Her appeal underscores the growing scope of opportunities for women in this sector.
According to Michael Houlgate, Deputy Director at British Council India, there is also an urgency to work together on global challenges, and there is a need for more ‘female voices in STEM’. “There is a need to increase participation to be able to tackle the complexities that come with space science and much more,” he said.
The UKIERI has facilitated over 25,000 academic exchanges through the years in connection with 4,500 educational institutions thereby strengthening the collaborative effort between India and the UK in the research and industry sectors. Launching WiSLP would be considered one of the most vital steps forward for women’s empowerment in space sciences to look ahead into the future in this field with an added edge of equity. And the impacts that the unfolding process is expected to have on this program will surely cause long-lasting imprints to be left on the representation and leadership of women in scientific research and innovation.
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