Women and Science: More Leadership and Better Research

Science needs not only many more women in leadership positions but also research and medical care that take them more into account.

[This text was jointly written by Júlia Pedreira and Silvia Gómez, researchers at ISGlobal and members of Women in Global Health Spain.]

It has been almost 73 years since Rosalind Franklin captured the iconic image that revealed the helical structure of DNA, 122 years since Marie Curie became the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, and 166 years since Florence Nightingale revolutionized nursing with her notes.

Today, March 8, 2025, we commemorate the fight of women and advocate for equal rights.

Despite these inspiring milestones, the gender gap in science and medicine remains a reality. Currently, women represent less than 30% of the scientific staff, hold just 32.2% of leadership roles, and have received only 6.7% of Nobel Prizes since the awards were established in 1901.

These figures highlight the underrepresentation of women and emphasize the urgency of breaking the glass ceiling, an invisible yet real barrier.

A Male-Centered Perspective

Beyond low representation in science, gender biases influence research and medical care. For decades, clinical trials have focused primarily on male subjects, with a ratio of one woman for every four men, assuming that the results would apply to the entire population. As a result, androcentric medicine has created knowledge gaps that directly impact the accuracy of diagnoses, treatment responses, and prognoses for women.

A key example is myocardial infarction (heart attack). In women, symptoms can include extreme fatigue, back pain, or nausea, rather than the intense chest pain typically seen in men. This difference in symptoms leads to delayed diagnoses, increasing the risk of complications. A 2022 study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) found that, under the same conditions, women waited an average of 11 minutes longer than men to receive emergency care.

Invisible Diseases

Gender biases have also sidelined certain diseases, such as fibromyalgia—where between 80% and 96% of patients are women—or endometriosis, which affects 10% of women of reproductive age (190 million), both of which are underdiagnosed. For endometriosis, patients wait an average of 7 to 8 years for a diagnosis, enduring chronic pain without effective treatments or adequate medical responses.

To address this issue, initiatives like EndoHealth, led by ISGlobal, work to identify risk factors and improve diagnosis and treatment strategies for endometriosis. Without such efforts, the healthcare system will continue to fail in providing appropriate solutions for diseases that predominantly affect women.

Another initiative improving women's health is the Manuela Project, developed by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), which aims to combat misinformation about women’s health by analyzing microbiota and considering factors like diet and lifestyle.

Addressing these biases is key to building inclusive medicine with a gender perspective, ensuring that women’s health is researched as rigorously as men’s.

Feminist Science: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

Feminist science is based on the premise that knowledge is not neutral but is influenced by the sociocultural context in which it is generated. It challenges traditional approaches that have ignored the particularities of women’s health and promotes more inclusive research.

One example of this approach is the LangBiTe program, developed by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and the University of Luxembourg, which uses artificial intelligence to detect gender inequalities in medical research and propose solutions. Initiatives like this help identify biases in clinical studies, ensuring that research outcomes better reflect the needs of the entire population.

Beyond promoting women’s participation in science, a feminist perspective requires rethinking methodologies and data interpretation to ensure a more equitable and rigorous approach.

Today and Every Day

We have seen how the gender gap in science and medicine is reflected not only in the low representation of women in leadership but also in biases in research, invisible diseases, and additional barriers for migrant women.

In response to this reality, feminist science emerges as a key tool to correct these imbalances and ensure that knowledge production is truly inclusive. Moving toward a bias-free science is not just about equity, it is essential to improving research quality and healthcare for everyone.

From WGH Spain, in collaboration with ISGlobal, we recognize the crucial role of women in science and join the fight for a fairer and more equal world. Every step toward inclusion is a step toward a more diverse, enriching, and transformative science.

For this and much more, today and every day is March 8.

Women in Global Health Spain