Equality between men and women at work continues to be one of the great challenges of our society.

The famous poster "We can do it" [We can] that was created in the United States during World War II (1939-1945) to raise the population spirit, tried to show that women took the place of men in the factories and kept the economy from collapsing. In the 1980s, the poster became a symbol of the feminist movement.

A few years have passed, and it is still necessary to make visible the role of women in leadership, decision-making, technological development and research positions, to create a better, more inclusive and more equitable future.

Women in the world of work

According to statistics from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), since 1996 the percentage of women in science has gradually increased, but with regional and country differences. Statistics from the ASTI program indicate that even in LAC countries the percentage of women researchers in public institutions in general is below 50%, although recent surveys have cited slight increases in female participation.

Almost 90 million working age women have achieved legal equality in the last decade. However, 2.4 billion working age women still do not have the same rights as men. More than half of these women live in East Asia and the Pacific (710 million) and South Asia (610 million), followed by Africa (330 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (210 million), the Middle East and North Africa (150 million), and Europe and Central Asia (140 million).

Women continue to be underrepresented at the highest scientific levels. Despite some progress to date, only 33% of researchers globally are women, according to UNESCO's most recent scientific report.

What careers do women choose:

• 33% of the women who accesss higher school studies in the world choose scientific and technological careers.
• Only 3% of female students who choose to pursue higher studies choose technology, information and communications.
• 5% choose natural sciences, mathematics and statistics.
• 8% of the students opt for engineering, manufacturing and construction.
• 15% choose careers related to health and wellness, such as medicine or nursing.