Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a date aimed at giving greater visibility to the work of women scientists and encouraging girls' vocation for science so that, in time, the gender gap that still exists will be a thing of the past.

We cannot deny that, until a few years ago, the percentage of women whose scientific degree program had won prizes and the recognition of society was really low. This same status was also common when it came to occupying leading positions in the management of prestigious scientific bodies, the vast majority of which were held by men. From entrance, we might think that this was a more pronounced evil in science, but I really believe that it is no more than a reflection of the general historical discrimination that women have suffered for decades in terms of intellectual training , to which our access has been limited in many cases.

Today, we can already say that, just as women have made a strong entry into all professional fields, more and more women are also choosing research as an option to develop their careers degree program. However, it is also true that there is still a long way to go, as the presence of women in leading positions of responsibility does not correspond to that in the teams of research: it is still significantly lower in managerial positions.

To argue this reality, reference is often made to the so-called glass ceiling, but in my opinion, perhaps what is known as the "cement ceiling" is even more important, i.e. the ceiling that women impose on themselves to avoid promotion due to the high cost staff and family costs that a promotion can entail, a cost that, on the other hand, is difficult not to assume given the imposed social obligation that means that women are still mainly responsible for the care and attention of the family.

This reality makes it very difficult to combine life staff with scientific research , a profession that is highly vocational and requires a dedication that cannot be offered with the same intensity if other facets of life must or want to be attended to, as it also lacks the social or family support that men have traditionally enjoyed until now.

Fortunately, my work environment sample has the opposite side to the reality that has been accompanying us for years, since in the organisation where I work development my degree program as a scientist, the high school of Tropical Health of the University of Navarra (ISTUN), the percentage favours us. In fact, 60% of the people dedicated to the scientific research are women and, moreover, many of us occupy positions of responsibility, despite the fact that many of my colleagues have a significant family "burden". This could be seen a priori as a handicap in terms of professional development , but often, on a day-to-day basis, the opposite is actually the case, either because their family environment encourages their vocational dedication to science or because the need to be "multitasking" women stimulates their ability to make decisions, which is very useful in the experimental scientific work .

I firmly believe that, although there is still some way to go to achieve a real balance in roles and responsibilities, I do not perceive any discrimination in the scientific field, as there may have been in the past. I like to argue this with an example: in our field it is common to speak of "colleagues" to refer to each other, a gender-neutral noun that defines us all and in which we feel equal. However, the visibility of work of women scientists has been and continues to be conditioned to a large extent by the ceilings imposed by society and also by those self-imposed by ourselves, and it is up to us to contribute to making these ceilings less and less rigid.