Working Group 5 (WG5), Women in Physics (WiP), was created by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics in 1999 as a resolution of the Atlanta, Georgia, USA General Assembly to survey the present situation and report to the Council and the Liaison Committees, and to suggest means to improve the situation for women in physics.

WG5 was created now works well beyond these original aims.

The 30th IUPAP General Assembly of October 2021 renovated the mandate of the Working Group on Women in Physics to include:

Mission/Mandate

  • to survey/monitor the situation and suggest means to increase gender diversity and inclusion in the practice of physics
  • to keep an active network of groups across the world that can monitor the situation at the national and regional levels and promote and take actions to increase gender diversity and inclusion across countries and regions
  • to organize a triennial international conference on the matter
  • to promote the Waterloo Charter for Gender Inclusion and Diversity and contribute to the

    continuous updating and dissemination of the list of policies, action and recommendations pertaining to affirmative action, career paths and institutional policies that are spelled out in the Charter’s Supporting Information.

  • to cooperate with commissions, affiliated commissions, working groups and IUPAP members to increase the gender diversity of the pool of candidates for awards, commission membership and to be invited as speakers or committee members of IUPAP endorsed and supported conferences
  • to liaise with the Vice President at Large with Gender Champion duties in all these aspects and to cooperate in the design and control of policies and guidelines for the IUPAP’s structure and for the activities endorsed and supported by the Union
  • to liaise with the Vice President at Large with Gender Champion duties to participate in the joint activities organized with other international organizations, particularly those related to the Standing Committee for Gender Equality in Science.

The International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP) is held every three years, bringing together men and women from around the world to report on the situation of women in physics in their country, to share good practice, to suggest and implement means of improvement and to network. Over 92 different countries and over 1300 delegates have attended the ICWIPs and many new national bodies on women in physics have been created and regional meetings have taken place. The Conference Proceedings, available online, are a source of statistics and good practice across the world. The seventh ICWIP is being held in Melbourne Australia in 2020.

Conference delegates ICWIP2017 Birmingham UK with special guest speaker Malala Yousafzai

Every year WG5 awards travel grants to women from developing countries to enable them to attend conferences that will support them in their career. Over 16 years, nearly 500 grants have been awarded.

Global surveys of female physicists were carried out in 2002 and 2006, with men being included in the third survey in 2009-10. The latest survey, collected in 2018, was carried out with ten other International Science Council (ISC) Unions and members as part of a project called A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It (the “Gender Gap in Science project”). As well as highlighting long term changes in physics the results will allow comparison with other science based subjects. The project has fostered strong links between the gender groups within the participating Unions.

WG5 has worked with IUPAP and in particular the Gender Champion, on policies such as their Harassment Policy for IUPAP sponsored conference and the Waterloo Charter, a declaration of principles and list of good practices for a more inclusive practice of physics that will be presented to the General Assembly in 2021.

The recently created International Day of Women in Physics (IDWIP) on February 11th aims to celebrate women in physics of the past, to support women in physics now, to inspire future women in physics.

Additional Information

Website for Women in Physics.