The 3rd IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP 2008) was held during October 7-10, 2008 in Seoul, Korea. This meeting takes place every three years and is organized under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and the Korean Physical Society (KPS). The conference was dedicated to the presentation and discussion of the latest developments and ideas regarding the status of woman physicists in societies around the globe. Besides attending plenary talks from many different research fields, the attendants had the opportunity to participate in workshops on i) Individual professional development, ii) Attracting girls to physics and blocking the leaky pipeline, iii) Assessing and improving the climate for women, iv) Successful proposals and project leadership, and v) Actions for Women in Physics (WIP) working groups.

A press release issued by the ICWIP following the conference appears below. A copy of the paper and poster presented by the Canadian delegation follow.

CANADIAN DELEGATION
BACK FROM INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE
ON WOMEN IN PHYSICS
(ICWIP2008) IN KOREA

Roby Austin (St. Mary’s University), Sampa Bhadra (York University), Janis McKenna (University of British Columbia), Adriana Predoi-Cross (University of Lethbridge), Michael Steinitz (St. Francis Xavier University), and Li-Hong Xu (University of New Brunswick) recently returned from Seoul, Korea, where they were part of over 330 scientists, from nearly 70 countries from all corners of the world, who took part in the Third IUPAP (International Union for Pure and Applied Physics) International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP2008). Delegates came from African, Asian, European, Latin American, North American, and island nations.

The meeting, held on October 7th to 10th, was dedicated to celebrating the physics achievements of women throughout the world, networking toward new international collaborations, gaining skills for career success, and aiding the formation of active regional working groups to advance women in physics. Each country presented information about its statistics and its activities to increase women's participation.

Worldwide, fewer than 15% of physicists are women. More than 80% of the conference attendees were women. It was clear that the scarcity of women in physics, especially in leadership positions, is a problem for many countries.

Nations cannot benefit fully from women's ideas and approaches to improve their economic competitiveness, or solve difficult problems, such as energy, health, and global sustainability.

Women, men, institutions, and governments need to work together to encourage, educate, recruit, retain, advance, and promote more girls and women in physics and other science and technology professions. To that end, the conference participants unanimously approved a resolution presented at the 26th General Assembly International Union of Pure and Applied Physics in Tsukuba, Japan on 15 October 2008.

Dr. Youngah Park, a physicist who chairs the conference organizing committee, was recently elected to the Korean National Assembly from her district. She told the assembled participants, “I believe the positive effect of ICWIP2008 will go beyond the physics community and will have a strong effect on women leaders in all fields of science and technology”.

The First International Conference on Women in Physics was held in Paris in 2002. The Second conference was hosted by Rio de Janeiro in 2005. Since the first conference most countries have made some progress in attracting girls to physics, increasing the proportion of physics degrees awarded to women, and promoting the career development of women physicists. However, the proportion of physicists who are women is well below 20% in nearly all countries - too few to have maximum benefit for society.

Visit the CAP's Committee to Encouarge Women in Physics webpage.