Soapbox Science http://soapboxscience.org/soapbox-science-2020-brussels/

On Saturday October 10, from 2 p.m. to 5:10 p.m., seven women scientists in Belgium will tell you about their research during the  first Soapbox Science event in Brussels, which will be exceptionally held online due to COVID-19.

Soapbox Science is a science outreach initiative that aims to promote  the visibility of women scientists and their research by bringing them  on the streets to reach the public. Soapbox Science events transform  public areas in discussion forums based on Hyde Park’s Speaker’s Corner  where women scientists, on their soapboxes, talk about their research to  the people passing by.

Why women scientists? Even today, women scientists constitute a  minority in the research field, and their relative number dwindles as  the seniority in the field increases. Recent research shows that women  face a lot of obstacles from a very young age, notably due to strongly  held stereotypes and biases related to the image of the scientist.

For those reasons, Soapbox Science aims at tackling stereotypes, and  shows to the public that science is not an “old white man’s” business  and that anyone has the opportunity to enjoy science in an interactive  way.