Breaking Barriers in Quantum: An Inspirational Talk with Rosario González-Férez

What does it take to succeed as a woman in the male-dominated world of quantum? Last Thursday, we hosted an Inspirational Talk with Rosario González-Férez, co-author of the Women for Quantum’s Manifesto of Values.

Rosario shared her personal journey in quantum physics, from her unexpected decision to pursue physics to becoming a leading researcher with over 75 published papers. She has worked at UBC, Harvard, and the University of Heidelberg, earned the Mildred Dresselhaus Award for Young Scientists, and led organizations such as the European Physical Society and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. Today, she is a full professor at the University of Granada, advocating for gender equality and a more inclusive scientific community.

Throughout her talk, Rosario addressed the challenges women face in science, the importance of mentorship in STEM, and the ongoing efforts to create systemic change in academia.

Gender Equality in STEM

“Why should they have more chances than we do?”

Rosario recognises that her journey in the male-dominated world of science was far from easy. Despite being an acclaimed physicist, she often faced sexism and inappropriate comments. She recalls the time when she sat on a panel with four other women. Despite all of them having PhDs and one being a full-time professor, they were called “a collection of cheerleaders” and “all single or divorced.”

This was not an isolated incident. When attending a PhD defence, she was called a prostitute because of her clothes—a formal dress. On another occasion, one of her female colleagues, while using a laptop, was told by a male student: “I didn’t know that secretaries used Linux.”

She often thought about the best way to respond to such sexist remarks, but in the moment, she always found herself either too shocked to reply or feeling that an emotional outburst would only be used against her. So she decided not to say anything. Why argue with someone so narrow-minded? Rosario’s motivation is knowing that she can do whatever they do. They are not smarter than her. And she enjoys doing quantum physics.

Women for Quantum Advocacy

“It is important that I’m here because equality and diversity need to be respected. And I know that if I am here, they will be respected.”

Beyond overt sexism, Rosario finds that women in physics have to work twice as hard in the field. While the gender pay gap in STEM in Spain is regulated for state employees, she finds that the gap manifests itself in different ways:

1. It takes much longer for a woman to get a permanent position at the university than it does for her male counterpart.
2. On top of their workload, women do more community service in academia. For every PhD defence or a new position, a committee has to judge the candidate. In every committee, there are always women despite the fact that there are significantly more male employees. Consequently, women do more unpaid academic labour.

However, it is difficult to turn down an invitation if you know that your presence ensures that diversity is respected.

But women are pushing back. Last year, Rosario co-wrote the Manifesto of Values with more than 30 other tenured quantum physics professors, united in the group Women for Quantum (W4Q). At this point, it has been endorsed by more than 200 quantum scientists. In response to consistently low numbers of female professors in quantum and ineffective diversity and equality initiatives, the group calls for a real change in science.

Their aim is to create an open and welcoming space for female scientists, free of gender bias in research and harassment, while building a participatory, inclusive, and supportive scientific community. By redistributing power in decision-making bodies and redefining quality in science to acknowledge diverse paths, Women for Quantum sees a more inclusive future.

And change is already happening.

As a result of W4Q’s advocacy, Quantum Flagship changed the structure of its Quantum Community Network. Previously, each country presented a member and a deputy. Out of 31 countries, only Croatia had Ticijana Ban as a representative member. Now, the new rules mandate that each representation must have both a male and a female member, removing the distinction between deputies and members so that either can join meetings. Quantum Flagship is also taking steps to increase the number of women in its Strategic Advisory Board.

How can we change the system?

“We need men and women to change society and to change how science is done.”

The fight for equality is not a one-person fight. Creating the Manifesto took a lot of work, but Rosario sees the discussion that emerged from it as a success. The fact that many women (and men) identified with it and supported W4Q’s mission is already an achievement.

Prompted by the audience, Rosario also discussed her views and advice on getting more women through the door. Firstly, she believes that without gender quotas in science, nothing will change. While not an ideal solution, we need to force the system to improve. If we leave it alone, as has been seen in the past years, nothing will change.

“Is a quota ideal? No, it’s not ideal.

Is it needed? I think it is needed.”

She stressed that the goal is not to hire women over men if a man is a better candidate, but to choose a woman when both candidates are equally good. Her point is that amazing female scientists are there and should not be overlooked. It should not be the case anymore that a conference only has male speakers. Yet, if we don’t impose the rule, many organizers will either purposefully or not exclude female speakers.

However, she also recognises the impact quotas have on women’s self-confidence. Rosario recalls a story of being invited to a conference together with a few other female scientists. While having dinner, they discussed the joint feeling that they were all there because they were women. Even though all of them were more than experienced to speak on their respective topics. At the same time, a young, male PhD student was invited to replace his renowned supervisor to speak on their research. The student was thrilled and at no point did he question his invitation. The point she tries to get across is that women cannot win in the current system. Either we are not invited or we are invited and question if this was done because we are women. Nonetheless, it is still better to be invited and let your work speak for itself in the hope that one day nobody will question why women are here.

She also encourages companies to look for women and give them an opportunity. There are many women out there with PhDs who would be an asset to a company. Secondly, she advises companies to improve the working environment. The current way of doing science is not healthy. Working overtime and working weekends is not good for anybody, especially women who disproportionally have more home responsibilities.

She again empathizes the importance of male allies in creating a more inclusive environment by sticking up for their female colleagues and advocating for change.

Conclusion | Mentorship in STEM

“It’s hard to be a role model, however, because what you really need to do is show students how imperfect people can be and still succeed … I may be a wonderful mathematician and famous because of it, but I’m also very human.” – Karen Uhlenbeck

Rosario leaves us with two key pieces of advice:

1. For senior scientists – Be a role model in STEM.

Voicing the words of Karen Uhlenbeck, she reminds us that being a role model is not about being perfect but about being imperfect and still succeeding. We are different people with different paths and yet any of us can be scientists. There is no one correct way to do it.

2. For junior scientists – Ask, be informed and get a mentor.

She encourages the next generation to ask for help and not be hard on yourself if you make a mistake. Every mistake is an opportunity for change and redirection. So, make the best of your journey and once you’re there, don’t forget that you don’t have to be a robot.

We would like to thank Rosario for joining our Inspirational Talk!

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