The role of women in the geosciences: the case of INGV in preparing and managing the emergencies

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It is well known that in the geosciences (as in all STEM disciplines), the percentage of women in top positions decreases in favor of men, despite comparable academic careers and, sometimes, even better results for women.
The authors of this contribution hold managerial roles in preparing and managing seismic and tsunami emergencies at INGV. It has been a long journey, but it is now a positive reality. But it has sometimes been different!
Since its establishment in 1999, the INGV has undergone significant growth and transformation. De Lucia et al. in 2021 [1] analyzed gender diversity within the organization, revealing that the workforce comprised 38% female and 62% male. While these proportions have remained relatively stable over subsequent years, nuances emerge when examining gender distribution with higher representation of women in administrative roles and men in technical positions. What is slowly changing in recent years is the presence of women in research and managerial leadership positions.
Notably, between 2016-2020, a woman served as General manager and, since 2017, one of the three Department Directors (Environment, Earthquakes and Volcanoes) is a woman.
Currently, 4 out of the 10 Directors of the INGV Offices are women, reflecting a positive trend towards gender parity in leadership roles. Additionally, both the recently elected INGV members of the Scientific Council are women, underscoring the growing influence of female voices in shaping scientific discourse and decision-making. In the present day, an increasing number of women fulfill pivotal roles across research, technical, and administrative realms, actively contributing to coordination and leadership. Notable instances include women actively engaged in the preparation and execution of seismic, volcanic and tsunami emergency protocols. Their responsibilities encompass crucial tasks and providing support services for emergency response teams (including operational rooms for seismic, volcanic, and tsunami surveillance, network monitoring infrastructures, or emergency response teams).
In this contribution, the authors recount their experiences.

De Lucia et al. (2021). Le persone dell'Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia a venti anni dalla sua istituzione. https://doi.org/10.13127/qdg/173
Margheriti et al. (2021). Seismic Surveillance and Earthquake Monitoring in Italy. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220200380