KABUL — As the world marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, women and girls in Afghanistan remain barred from schools and universities, unable to pursue education in any field, including science and technology.
The United Nations General Assembly established this day in 2015 to highlight the importance of women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and to promote gender equality in scientific fields.
This year’s theme, “Science Without Borders: Empowering Women for a Global Future,” underscores the need for greater inclusion of women in scientific research and innovation.
Despite global progress, women remain underrepresented in many scientific fields. According to UNESCO, less than 30 percent of researchers worldwide are women. In emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five specialists is female. Women also make up just 28 percent of engineering graduates and 40 percent of graduates in computer science and information technology.
In Afghanistan, however, the Taliban’s ban on women’s education continues to prevent an entire generation of girls from accessing higher education, further widening the gender gap in science and other academic disciplines.
