Women In Technology - Friday Links - 08/07/2022
Dear WIT friends,
Summer is well and truly underway as is the 13th edition of the UEFA European Women’s Football Championship, hosted this year in England. 16 teams will compete for a place in the final on Sunday 31 July. https://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/
Things have not always been plain sailing in the world of women’s football. The first recorded women's football match took place on 9th May 1881, when two teams competed at Easter Road Stadium in Edinburgh. It was advertised as a Scotland v England international match.
The First World war saw men leaving jobs to fight overseas and women filled many jobs brought into existence due to wartime needs. The women working in factories played football during lunch-breaks, teams were formed and played charity matches to raise money for injured soldiers. One such team was the Dick Kerr’s Ladies who not only raised money for Unemployed Ex Servicemen’s Distress Fund. They also helped local workers who were in financial difficulty. The mining industry in particular suffered a major recession after the war. “Women’s football had come to be associated with charity, and had its own credibility. Now (1920’s) it was used as a tool to help the Labour Movement and the trade unions. It had, it could be said, become a politically dangerous sport, to those who felt the trade unions to be their enemies.... “ (Barbara Jacobs) : https://spartacus-educational.com/Fdickkerrs.htm
In 1921, the English FA (Football Association) declared football “quite unsuitable for females” and outlawed the sport for 50 years: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/womens-football-banned-england-50-years-fa-world-cup-history
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) assembled in 1904 and established the World Cup in 1930; however, the organization did not accept women until the 1980s, nor stamp its “World Cup” trademark onto an international women’s contest until 1991. Consequently, for much of the twentieth century, female soccer players faced an uphill battle in the fight for recognition. https://ussporthistory.com/2015/07/02/the-beleaguered-history-of-the-womens-world-cup/
Along with other women in sport, they face an uphill battle in the fight for equal pay: https://theconversation.com/women-in-sport-are-winning-the-fight-for-equal-pay-slowly-167943, as well as harmful and irresponsible attitudes including those from football’s former most senior administrator, the disgraced Sepp Blatter, who suggested in 2004, “ "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball," he said. "They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so,.” https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/jan/16/football.gender
Across the Pond – Overturning Roe v. Wade
Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending right to abortion upheld for decades: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn?t=1657269192176
Watch: “Reversing Roe” on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/ch-en/title/80192834
Listen: “Abortion rights around the world” https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct43h4
Fields Medals 2022
The Fields Medal, one of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics, is awarded every four years “to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work and for the promise of future achievement”. https://www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/fields-medal/fields-medals-2022
Maryna Viazovska, a mathematician at the EPFL in Switzerland, has won one of this year’s Fields Medals at the International Congress of Mathematicians. She is only the second woman to receive a Fields Medal, find out more here: https://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/IMU/Prizes/Fields/2022/MV_Plus.pdf
News from the Lab
In case you missed it,
#Higgs10
- Celebrating ten years of the Higgs Boson discovery at CERN: https://home.cern/news/press-release/physics/higgs-boson-ten-years-after-its-discovery
- On our WIT Instagram channel discover:
*) Meet Eleanor who shares her memories of the announcement 10 years ago (swipe on the right to see the two short videos): https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfmh5-9DRIG/
*) Take part in the contest to win 3 of these Higgs pins: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfmkMpmD6Ch/
#LHCRun3
- Check out the Live recording from the CCC and all four experiments : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06kFq1QF5-s
- On our WIT Instagram channel go on a ~20 minutes tour at the CMS experiment Point 5 with Gaelle Boudoul, one of the CMS Run Coordinators: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfoB88sjSiR/
#WITMentors
Finally on our WIT LinkedIn page [https://www.linkedin.com/company/wit-cern/], discover portraits of this year’s WIT Mentors: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wit-cern_delphine-jacquet-activity-6945643379548430336-nmTq?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
Rachel.
on behalf of WIT Communications
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About the Women in Technology (WIT) Community: The aim of this community is to provide an environment in which women are not in the minority when interacting with technology. Our objectives are: to encourage women to play the role of expert; to provide a supportive learning environment; and to build a network between the Women in Technology here at CERN. WIT welcomes members from all genders and all technical fields. Visit cern.ch/wit