# Young, female and scientist: exploring barriers, challenges and opportunities

## TL;DR

This paper explores the challenges faced by female scientists and offers insights from successful women in STEM.

## Contribution

The study gathers firsthand experiences and advice from female researchers to address career barriers in STEM.

## Key findings

- Female researchers face societal, systemic, and personal barriers at different career stages.
- Participants shared strategies to overcome these barriers and support for new PhD students.
- Current solutions are insufficient and need to address multiple facets of the issue.

## Abstract

Different societal, systemic and personal barriers exist at various stages along a female researcher's career that can potentially undermine their success. The equation for women to reach higher positions in STEM is a multivariable one, and while there has been considerable progress towards addressing some of these compared with the past, current solutions are inadequate and do not address all facets. Here, we asked female winners of the FEBS Open Bio poster prize about their experiences regarding barriers they have faced at the predoctoral and postdoctoral stages, their opinions on how these can be addressed and their advice to new students entering a PhD degree.

Societal, systemic and personal barriers exist at various stages along a female researcher's career that can potentially undermine their success. We asked female winners of the FEBS Open Bio poster prize about their experiences regarding barriers they have faced at the predoctoral and postdoctoral stages, their opinions on how these can be addressed and their advice to new PhD students.