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. 2022;39(1):225-248.
doi: 10.1007/s40888-021-00256-2. Epub 2022 Mar 8.

Resilient women scientists and the COVID-19 pandemic: an OWSD analysis

Tonya Blowers  1 , Erin Johnson  1 , Jennifer Thomson  2
Affiliations

Resilient women scientists and the COVID-19 pandemic: an OWSD analysis

Tonya Blowers et al. Econ Polit (Bologna). 2022.

Abstract

Pandemics tend to have disruptive and uneven impacts on different population subgroups and across sectors. This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women scientists from the Global South to understand their resilience and adaptation strategies, utilising data from a survey of women in STEM fields, who are members of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). We employ a mixed-methods approach to examine the effects of the pandemic on the respondents' work and employment, home and family lives, and mental well-being. We find that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirement to change practices in academia, indeed in all spheres of social and economic life, have provided a unique and most timely opportunity to observe, evaluate and revise what might be termed the current gender-limited environment for career progression for researchers in STEM subjects and instead create a gender-transformative environment that will have a profound effect on how scientific research is managed and undertaken in the world.

Keywords: Covid-19; Gender Inequality; OWSD; Resilience; STEM.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scissors Diagram; Source: Neugebauer (2006)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Career stage of respondents; Source: OWSD 2020 Survey
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Respondents by STEM field; Source: OWSD 2020 Survey
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Negative impact of Covid-19 on work and education; Source: OWSD 2020 Survey
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Positive impact of Covid-19 on work and education; Source: OWSD 2020 Survey
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Negative factors influencing mental wellbeing; Source: OWSD 2020 Survey
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Positive factors influencing mental wellbeing; Source: OWSD 2020 Survey
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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