Ammon News - Jordan joined the global community on Wednesday to observe the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, an annual milestone established by the UN General Assembly in 2015 to recognize the indispensable contributions of women to sustainable development and technological innovation.

This year’s theme, "Synergizing AI, Social Science, STEM and Finance: Building Inclusive Futures for Women and Girls", underscores the imperative of integrating diverse scientific disciplines to foster an equitable knowledge-based economy.

Maha Ali, Secretary-General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW), emphasized that while Jordan has achieved significant milestones in female educational attainment within STEM fields, a persistent "implementation gap" remains between academic excellence and labor market integration.

National statistics from 2024 reveal a formidable female presence in specific sectors: women constitute 60.4% of graduates in medicine and rehabilitation, 68.3% in pharmacy, and 59.8% in natural sciences. However, representation in more technical domains remains comparatively lower, with women accounting for 36.5% of engineering graduates and 33.3% in computer science.

Global benchmarks provided by UNESCO further highlight the structural challenges facing women in frontier technologies. Despite making up 35% of global science graduates, women represent only 22% of professionals in Artificial Intelligence and a mere 2% of applicants in the quantum technology sector.

To address these disparities domestically, the JNCW is actively monitoring the National Strategy for Women, focusing on closing the gender pay gap, particularly in the private healthcare sector, and enhancing digital legal literacy through platforms such as "Know More."

The narrative of Jordanian excellence is epitomized by Yasmine Zuhair Murad, a researcher in sustainability and AI, who has been ranked among the top 2% of the world’s most influential scientists for two consecutive years.

As the sole Jordanian woman in the engineering category of this prestigious list, Murad’s work exemplifies the fusion of AI with structural engineering to develop sustainable, eco-friendly construction materials. Her achievements, including the Samia Mango Award for Distinguished Female Researcher in STEM, serve as a critical rebuttal to traditional stereotypes and highlight the necessity of specialized funding and mentorship to elevate women into senior scientific leadership roles. Petra